An Alice In Hogwarts Land
by missyJuliette
Summary: Mikan awoke to find a kindly old man beside her. "Would you want to enroll in our school?" /hiatus
1. chapter 1 C:

"_Mom!" An eleven-year-old girl ran as fast as she can towards her mom who was getting kidnapped by people who call themselves 'Death Eaters.' She was frantically; desperately doing her best of what she can do to get her mom back. She tried everything she could think. _

_She stopped dead on her tracks. Of course, the 'death eaters' paused too, to see why their pursuer had stopped. _

_Her bangs hid her eyes from their sight as something went terribly wrong…_

She awoke upright in a start from her darkest nightmare. And perhaps, reality. Large beads of sweat came trailing down her pale, wounded skin. It took her moments to realize that she was not alone. She gasped in surprise as she stared at the man beside her. He had a long white beard and was wearing half-moon spectacles. He was smiling so warmly that she could not help but feel safe with this man. She was still staring at him when he spoke.

"A pleasant afternoon, young lady." He took a seat beside her hospital bed. "You are currently in the hospital wing of my school, Hogwarts." For the first time since she woke up, she tore her eyes from the man and looked somewhere else.

"Hogwarts?" she breathed.

"Yes. Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry."

"wizardry? There are wizards in the world? I guess that's believable. If _we _exist then possibly there would be people like that." She muttered to herself loudly. She still looked around, familiarizing the surroundings. Then she smiled.

"May I ask for your name?" she was pointing it out to the old man beside her. His blue eyes sparkled at the girl's sudden change of mood.

"Certainly. I am Albus Dumbledore. People call me Dumbledore. I am also the headmaster of this school. May I ask for your name?" he asked politely to the brunette.

Her smile even grew wider as she chimed, "My name's Sakura Mikan. Call me Mikan. I am…" she trailed off, her face showing confusion. It went away immediately almost making Dumbledore believe it was only hallucination. Another smile was plastered on her face. "Never mind that please." Dumbledore was confused of why she is even hiding that. He shrugged it off, considering her request.

"Mikan." Her smile grew impossibly even wider as he called her name. "Do you want to enroll in our school?" she tilted her head to the side as she thought about it.

-

**Okay, I'm sorry if this sucks. I haven't decided yet in which book this is happening. Could everyone tell me your opinions? And I need people to tell me if I should continue this. Thanks. Oh btw, I neither own Gakuen Alice and Harry Potter. =D**


	2. Chapter 2 XD

"Sure, why not?" Mikan beamed at Dumbledore. Dumbledore stood up from his seat and walked towards the door. Mikan tilted her head in confusion.

"Where are you going, uhh--- Professor?" she let her feet make contact with the cold floor. Dumbledore twisted his body as he calmly said his reply.

"I'm sorry for my rudeness. I was just going to talk with someone who is outside the door." A small smile appeared in his lips. Mikan's lips formed a perfect circle as she understood what he meant.

"You're not going to go away, right?" she was now walking barefooted. Dumbledore turned his heels facing her.

"I suggest you go back to your bed and have a rest. You are pretty wounded. I promise I'll be there as soon as I have finished talking with a certain someone." He smiled again as he tried to convince her. He was hoping she'd go back to sleep. Lucky for him, she did and positioned her head on the pillow comfortably. He slipped outside the room silently and faced his visitor.

He cleared his throat and asked, "What can I do for you, Pete?"

**Mikan's POV**

"_Mikan! Over here, my dear. Follow my voice amidst the darkness and you'll find me. . Come on. Oh no. Mikan, faster! Find me! Mikan! Oh no." I groped around me, blinded by the darkness surrounding me. _

"_Mom! Where are you? Where? Mom! Answer me!" Mom! Her voice! Where is she?! Oh no. I know this is _not_ just a normal dream. _

"_Mom! Answer me! Mom! Where are you? Please answer me!" I walked and walked not knowing where my feet would lead me to. I'd risk my life just to see my mom again. Oh no. just where is she?! Mom. After a few minutes of fruitless walking, I finally found a light coming from a not-properly-closed door. I walked nearer to it, confused whether I quicken my pace or slow it down. I chose the former one but made sure my steps were silent. As soon as I was a couple of feet away from it, I heard mom's voice. Unconsciously, I slowed my pace as if I was a spy, not that I'm not, listening to a private transaction. All I heard were brisk conversations. It was a woman's voice for sure. She was speaking as if she was talking to the king as a mere slave. Isn't mom supposed to be here?_

"_My lord, Why---"_

"_Silence! How many times do I have to explain this? She will be---" this time, it was a man's voice speaking. Power, authority and menace were clear in his voice. Where's my mom?_

"_But my Lord, she might be---"_

"_Are you being rebellious? Do you not want my power?"_

"_I do not mean that, my lord. It is just that--"_

"_Then be silent."_

_The woman obeyed and silence ensued between them. My blood was boiling. Where. Is. My. Mom? Isn't she supposed to be here? The only place I found in the midst of the darkness? After what felt like years, I heard another voice, rebellious and rude unlike the previous woman. _

"_Why am I here? Let me free!" At last! My mom is indeed here. My hand was itching to reach for the door knob. Just as my fingers were mere millimeters away from the bronze handle, the same male voice bellowed. _

"_Silence, woman!" How dare he call my mom, a mere woman? And with a tone of disgust too! The nerve. "You are only an instrument to get me to my goals so do as I say!" oh just an instrument, huh? I couldn't take this anymore! I opened the door and it creaked loudly. I expected the 'lord' and the 'servant' to whip their heads towards me but nothing; neither of them turned their heads towards the door but my mom, who gasped at the sight of me. _

"_what do you think you are doing?" she mouthed as she saw me walking over to the 'lord 'who was sitting on a big business-like chair, the back facing me. I smiled at her to convince her that I'm going to make it. She stared nervously but nodded nonetheless. _

"_Be careful, Mikan." She smiled timidly which I responded with a nod. I was about to turn the chair when a giant serpent raised its head towards my direction. Not now. The giant serpent hissed something to the 'lord' as if it was conveying a message. I scowled ridiculously. As if someone can talk to snakes!_

"_There is an intruder, Nagini says." The 'lord' said then Nagini, as he called her, hissed again. _

"_And it is a girl who is invisible, you say." He laughed maniacally. _

"_Nothing, no one can escape from Lord Voldemort." The chair turned around for me to see an utterly ugly… creature. What the heck is he? Like a crossover of a serpent and a human! No wonder he can talk to snakes. He raised a stick then muttered, _

"_Avada ----" _

"_Dodge!" heeding my mother's words, I went out of the range of the green light. What was that? I sped to my mom looking for comfort. She did comfort me with reassuring words. _

"_I'm going to free you from this place. I promise." I hugged her as few tears made their way down my cheeks. _

"_I promise mom and I will never break it." I faced the snake and stuck out my tongue. Who cares if this… thing can see me? I smiled at my mom as I wiped the tears away. I'm going to keep my promise, even if it means risking my life._

**End of Mikan's POV**

Mikan awoke from her dream. No. that was not _just_ a dream, but nonetheless a dream. Ah, troublesome. Anyway back to the story. She hopped out of her bed and went out of the room. She walked around the school searching for Dumbledore. After about an hour, she faced a gargoyle statue.

"Hey, gargoyle. Do you know where Professor Dumbledore is? I'll give you a box of howalons.--- sigh--am I getting crazy or ---waa! The gargoyle is moving! What the---" she stood up from her lethal position and pointed at the gargoyle statue.

"It--- the statue is moving! Oh wait. There's a staircase revealed! Hmm… I wonder where it leads to. Maybe I should go up. Maybe not. What's there to lose if I go up, right? hmm… so I guess I could go up. Ah! Stop thinking about that Mikan!" she scolded herself as she went up the steps of the said staircase.

"Ah!" she pointed through the open door and to the old man sitting on his chair. "Professor! Is this your office?" Dumbledore looked up and smiled warmly.

"I didn't know you knew the password, Mikan. Come in, come in." He pointed at the chair in front of his table. Mikan nodded sheepishly and obeyed him. She stared at the red **(?) **bird turning into ashes. She gasped as she pointed at the said bird.

"Pro—professor! The b—bird! It turned to ashes!" Dumbledore just smiled at her amazement.

"It is a phoenix, my pet, Fawkes." Mikan gasped again in surprise as she saw a baby phoenix rising from the ashes.

"It's reborn!" Dumbledore nodded. He stood up then got a dirty black sorcerer's hat.

"Mikan, this is the sorting hat which will determine which house you'll be in. how old are you?" Dumbledore sat again and placed the hat on his messed up table.

"I just turned twelve, sire."

"I see, and then you will be in second year this coming school year. You are going to be sorted today, is that fine with you?" Mikan nodded as Dumbledore put the hat on her head, reaching past her ears.

**Okay, that's all for now! Obviously, the next chapter will contain the sorting. Well, let me thank **_**angelvan 105,**__**Shayurae, HanatsukiHime, foxtrotelly and xXH3ARTXx **_**for reviewing the first chapter! Thanks a lot! btw, tell me if i misspelled your name or what. Please review, everyone! And I was just thinking in which book this is happening, can you help me out? Please! If nobody answers me then I think I'll proceed with what I'm thinking. Thanks for reading this author's note!**

**And btw, the disclaimer in the first chapter serves for the whole fic. Thanks again. =)**


	3. Chapter 3 xP

_Hmm… why are you so early? It's summer._ A voice rang in Mikan's ears. Mikan turned around.

_It's me who's talking. _Mikan laughed at her own stupidity.

_Anyway, let's start with the sorting. You were born brave, learned to be sly and a natural gentle girl. You'd do well in Gryffindor, Slytherin and Hufflepuff. But no, not in Ravenclaw. You hate studying.__Oh well, you've been through a lot of hardships, doubt and betrayal. Love and suspicion too. _The hat laughed at what it saw as it mentioned 'love'.

_You have an ambition, a goal and you'd do anything to achieve it. You're brave and would never back down on a fight for your friends. This is pretty hard, I guess. In Hufflepuff, you're kind, gentle and merciful. You give people second chances. Hmm… the best choice would be Gryffindor. _

_Wait, you're hiding something from me. Ooh. An evil side of yours, small but really powerful. I guess that'd put you to Slytherin. Hmm… Okay, I guess your house should be SLYTHERIN! _Mikan removed the hat from her head and looked up to see Dumbledore.

"So what did it say?" Mikan frowned at the memory.

"Its first choice was Gryffindor and I liked it but then… it saw… my dark side so it sorted me to this Slytherin house. Waaah! I absolutely don't like it." Dumbledore raised a knowing eyebrow.

"You haven't heard the qualities and such of each house yet, have you?" Mikan shook her head. "Then how could you say that you like Gryffindor but hate Slytherin?" Mikan beamed.

"I just like how Gryffindor sounded to me but then Slytherin reminds me of slithering snakes. **(just add a 'g')** And I'm currently holding a grudge against a gigantic one." Dumbledore's curiosity grew.

"A gigantic snake? Where have you seen such a thing?" he knew it was leading to something else.

"Uhh… Yeah, it was so huge! And I really didn't recognize the place but all I know is that it's inside a manor and then there were three people there." She chose she'd rather not mention her own mother. "Although there's this person I really can't call a person. Ugh. He – it looked like a crossover between a human and a snake." Dumbledore was alerted. So there really was something with this girl.

"Do you know who this 'crossover' is? And who were the other people?" he was eager to get information about Voldemort and whoever were his minions.

"Err… no but the woman always called him… or it 'Lord' as if he was royalty. And then they also mentioned some Bertha who they killed somewhere to get information about the Quidish something." Now, it was something else Dumbledore was curious about.

"Doesn't the thought of someone getting killed bother you? You sounded so casual as if this was normal. And was it Quiditch World Cup or something?"

"Yeah! That's what they talked about."

"You're avoiding my first question." Mikan scratched her head.

"I'm sorry if I sounded rude. It's just that… that term is just so often used in… my previous school."

"Your previous school? How come children like you are so exposed to something like that?" Mikan shook her head.

"I can't say anything more." Dumbledore nodded apprehensively.

"I understand." Mikan sat still while pretending to look at Fawkes. She made up her mind.

"Professor, I want to tell you something." He nodded to signal her to continue. "The first reason I accepted your proposal was because I think your school is interesting. The second was because… I need somewhere to hide, somewhere hidden. And I think all of you being wizards just can't let _normal_ people see this, can you?" Mikan activated her mindreading alice. "You must be asking yourself why. My mom is a rebel against the elementary school principal of my previous school. Mind you, he's totally evil. And my mom escaped from his grasp inside the academy and decided to eradicate all of the said principal's clones. She succeeded so far but then there were problems. Things happened until I decided I'd join her. So we're both fugitives." Mikan deactivated the alice. She fidgeted with the hem of her skirt as she waited for Dumbledore's reply.

"There was a term you mentioned which was never used by humans, except for their fiction-filled imaginations. You mentioned clones. So there's something else other than wizards out there."

"Yes there is and I think our kind has existed since a long time ago. My mother wanted me to be a normal human but she had no choice when my uncle, my father's brother, told her that I'm an alice." Mikan covered her mouth as she made a mistake. She stood up hastily and ran out of the room before Dumbledore could say something. In the room, Dumbledore pondered on his own thoughts.

"Baka! Baka! Baka no Mikan!Argh! I hate myself! You're an idiot! Waaah!" She stomped on the floor as she made her way to who knows where. She was about to go up when her right foot was stuck in a trap on the second step.

"Great, Mikan the idiot! Now you got stuck on a trap! Where did all of your training go? Pshaw! Great, just great. Right. You're going crazy." She talked to no one in particular as she tried to figure out how to remove her leg by herself. When she tugged it, it went deeper. She thought of something but first she must secure that no one sees it. After she confirmed it, she used Nobara's alice on the trap.

"It worked! Yay!" she skipped up the remaining steps until she reached a big portrait. "Woah! This one's huge!" she gasped when it moved.

"Woah! You can move?!" The huge lady yawned.

"You're early. Are you a prefect?"

"A prefect? Uhh… no." the pink lady opened her eyes.

"then why are you here on summer?"

"err… I got lost…?" The woman was already snoring so she turned around.

"Tche. She shouldn't have spoken if she would only sleep. Now, where have I gotten to?" she was facing the hall.

"Oh yeah, the hall." She walked around, looked at the banners of each house, scrutinizing it. "I knew it. I should have gone to Gryffindor. Hmm… when's the start of term? I better ask Dumbledore." So she let her feet lead the way and there she was. When she got there, she realized how superior to direction her feet were to her.

"What's the password again? Was it howalons?" the gargoyle moved. "So that was it." she went up and knocked on the door.

"You can come in." Dumbledore's kind voice boomed.

"Err… I'm terribly sorry for my behavior." She bowed as a sign of both respect and humility.

"I understand, Mikan. Please take a seat." After she had, Mikan started to talk.

"Umm… when does the term start?"

**-**

**Author's note**

**-**

**Oh my goodness! When does their school start? I forgot! Please tell me! **

**And let me thank **angelvan105, **xXH3ARTXx, **foxtrotelly **and HanatsukiHime for reviewing the last chapter. **

**Could somebody PLEASE suggest a book, the reason why and the scenes you might want to be added? Please? I am really stuck. Oh well. Please review. =) happy holidays, everyone! And pardon me if I have mistakes. tell me, k?**


	4. Chapter 4 Cx

"You don't have to worry about that. You are already enrolled and are living in the school." Dumbledore said with reassurance. Mikan looked awed as she looked at the things inside the headmaster's office, seemingly too distracted to listen.

"Professor," she murmured. Dumbledore looked up from his work. "Will you tell me everything about this school? Including the school location and information, admission, arrival, the houses, the terms and holidays, the subjects and teachers, the student life and I would also like to know about the secrets of Hogwarts." Dumbledore smiled kindly.

After he explained everything about the school, Mikan was, again, awed. "Wow! I never thought that a school like this exists! Our school was for geniuses, that's what they say to normal people. But here, it's totally hidden! And Professor, can we go to Diagon Alley for my stuffs? And can I ride the Hogwarts Express with the other students? Please?" Her hands were clasped together, with matching puppy eyes as she begged Dumbledore. His eyes twinkled.

"Of course, you need your wand, robes, subject books, a standard size 2 pewter cauldrons, a set of brass scales, a set of glass or crystal phials, a kit of basic potion ingredients, and a telescope. And maybe I could allow you to ride the train." He winked as Mikan shouted "Yay!" in delight.

"When would we go?" She asked, millions of sparkles visible around her. She was practically dancing around the room out of happiness.

"How about today?" Dumbledore took out his coat and beckoned Mikan if she agrees.

"Oh sure!" she skipped out of the office almost falling down the stairs, followed by the calm headmaster. She turned around with a confused look.

"How could we get there?" Dumbledore pointed out to the forest.

"We'd have to go through the forest until we're out of the school's boundaries then I'd apparate us to the Leaky Cauldron. Is that fine with you? We'd have to go through the forest after all." He asked with concern although he knew Mikan was more than experienced to go through the forest alone. Mikan's smile came back.

"Oh. My pleasure! I want to see what creatures live in the forest after you told me about centaurs, and other magical creatures! I wonder what they look like. Are there mutated animals so that they'd turn to giant ones? I'm pretty sure Pio would like to see something else like it. Hmm… yeah, I think that's good. And does Ruka-pyon's alice affect them? Hmm… I think it would… oh no… I do wish they could be here. Waaaaaaaaaaah!! Ah! Anyway, Professor, could we go now?" she smiled sheepishly as she realized she'd been too carried away. Oh well, knowing Dumbledore, he knew how much it'd hurt to be away from the people you consider as family so he just let her be.

After walking though the forest and Dumbledore bearing Mikan's outbursts until he got used to it, they arrived somewhere far from the school.

"Let's go. Mikan, hold firmly on my arm and don't ever let go, okay?" Mikan nodded and clutched Dumbledore's left am. The surroundings were swirling in Mikan's vision.

"Uwaaaaaaaaa! There are soooo many stores! I can't help remembering central town! The only difference is that there aren't any robots, and the people are wearing black cloaks and all! Professor, what's this? A REAL broomstick? Woah! That's awesome! Can I ride one in school? Yes? Yay! Thanks so much prof! And by the way, what are we getting first, professor?" Mikan flitted from a store to another as she pressed her nose to the glass. Dumbledore sighed tiredly as he tried to follow Mikan with his eyes.

"Mikan, can I ask a favor of you?" Mikan stopped in her tracks and skidded to Dumbledore's side.

"uh huh. What is it?" she nodded again and again.

"Mikan, please stay put so that you won't get lost. We're going to get you your robes first. While you're there, I'll buy you your other things then when you're done, your wand's next." Dumbledore adjusted his glasses on his nose.

"Wand??? Woah!! I wonder what's it's gonna be like! Is it wood or…" she kept muttering to herself as Dumbledore lead the way to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

They went inside and Dumbledore left her in the care of Madam Malkin. He left after he gave her a few instructions.

"Are you first year dear? I haven't seen you before." Madam Malkin said as she did her work. Mikan shook her head.

"Nope. Professor said something about me being a transfer student." Madam Malkin nodded.

"Well then, I'm done with yours but Dumbledore asked me to let you stay here until he comes back so can you wait here? Here's a chair." She did something unsurprising to Mikan, which was to make a chair zoom towards where she was. Mikan nodded and sat down on the chair, observing the people passing by to kill time.

After what seemed like eternity, she got bored and decided to sneak out. With her improved skills, she managed just fine and was out on the streets of Diagon Alley. Not sure where to go, she decided to follow a family of flaming red hair towards a building which she didn't know the name of.

The family split up into two groups: one composing of all redheads while the other was a mixture of red, brown and black. Probably friends since they don't have the same hair color, Mikan thought. Because of this conclusion, she decided to follow this trio.

She followed them for a long, long time, trying to figure out whether she should stop, make friends with them or let them know she's foolishly following them. She decided with the latter one. Just as she made her mind up, she bumped to a guy with slick white-blonde hair.

"S… sorry!" Mikan tore her eyes away from the trio and bowed a little. When she looked up again, they were out of sight.

"Hey! Who are you? If I tell this to my father…."

"Being a daddy's boy again, Malfoy?" Mikan looked around to see the tall redheaded guy sneer at the guy she just bumped to. Malfoy had the tiniest hint of a blush on his pale cheeks.

"Am not!"

"Oh yeah, 'cause he's a momma's boy after all, right?" the glasses dude was the one who replied this time. Their female companion rolled her eyes.

"Ron, Harry, you're not planning to get into a fight with Malfoy again, are you?" the bushy brunette scolded them as she looked from Ron to Harry."And you, Malfoy, this poor girl just _accidentally _bumped into you and you get all haughty about you precious shoes and everything. Can't you just leave her alone?"

Malfoy raised his chin and turned around. "You're gonna pay, mudblood."

Mikan decided this was a good time to start a conversation. "Err… Thank you for uhh… driving that guy away." The three looked at her.

"Uhmm… that was nothing. We're old enemies so it's normal for us to get into fights with that person." Ron scratched the back of his head. Mikan tilted her head.

"I'm Mikan. Can I ask for your names?"

"Oh sure. My name's Hermione. This is Ron," she pointed to the tall guy then to the glasses dude. "And Harry." The three waited for her reaction to Harry's name but nothing came.

"Well, it's really nice to meet you. I hope we can be good friends." Mikan bowed then asked, "can I ask a favor of you?" the three nodded. "Can you lead me back to Madam Malkin's?"

**-Author's note!!-**

**Hi everyone! I'm very sorry to that someone I promised something. I really, really forgot who it was!! Tell me, okay? And I'll remember this time. I'm really sorry. I'm sorry!! Please forgive me!! oh nooooes.**

**Well, what do you think of this chapter? Crap? Good? Tell me. **


	5. Chapter 5 TToTT

"At Madam Malkin's? Sure, I'll take you there." Hermione took Mikan's hand and dragged her through the crowd. A moment later, Mikan remembered the other two.

"Hermione," she called out. When Hermione turned around to face her, she continued, "how about Harry and Ron?"

"Oh!" she said as if she only remembered now. "Don't worry about them. They know their way here. They can just go to Madam Malkin's themselves." After having said that, she quickened her pace.

"We're here," Hermione announced as they stood in front of the shop.

"Thanks a lot, Hermione." Mikan smiled at her senpai.

"Welcome," Hermione smiled back.

The two of them went inside the shop and were welcomed by the sight of Harry and Ron and – guess who – the headmaster of Hogwarts.

"Professor! Good afternoon." **(*) **Hermione greeted as she walked towards her two best friends.

"A pleasant afternoon to you too, Miss Granger." Dumbledore greeted back.

He looked at Hermione's companion, who was looking at the floor as if it was made of the finest gold and jewels. "Mikan?"

Mikan raised her head to look at Dumbledore in the eyes. "I'm sorry, Professor. I know Malkin-san told me to stay put but I didn't." Mikan looked really, really guilty of her deed.

"But it's a good thing that you met some of your fellow students and actually befriended them."

"_Actually befriended us? That choice of words just bug me," _Hermione thought.

Dumbledore turned to the trio. "Thank you, Potter, Weasley, and Granger for helping Mikan come back here." Then he looked to Mikan again intently, saying, "You should've learned your lesson now."

"Yes, I did."

"Now, let's proceed to buying your wand."

"Excuse me, Professor," Hermione said.

Harry and Ron turned their heads to the only female of their little trio, their faces torn between shock and confusion.

"What is it?"

"Can we come with you? I don't think Harry and Ron have any objections so…" When Ron looked like he was going to say something, Hermione immediately stomped on his foot, hard.

Ron howled in pain as he caressed his swollen foot, muttering in heavy sarcasm, "God bless you." **(**)**

"Well," Dumbledore started as he patted his long beard, "I don't have any objection. Mikan, will it be alright for you?" Dumbledore asked as he rested his withered old hand on Mikan's shoulder.

Mikan smiled. "I'd love to have them with us. That way, shopping would be more fun!"

"That settles it then."

The five of them walked toward Ollivander's wand shop.

As the door opened, a bell hanging above the door chimed.

"Where's the shop keeper?" Mikan asked as she looked around, amazed by the countless number of boxes on the shelves around her.

"Ooh… Dumbledore," muttered an old man as he appeared through one of the shelves, "what business do you have here. If my memory serves right, your wand was made of **(***)**"

"Mr. Ollivander, I am accompanying one of the future students of my school to buy her wand."

"Oh I see. That girl, I presume," he said as he eyed the pig-tailed brunette.

Mikan noticed the old man at last and smiled at him.

Ollivander walked towards Mikan, holding a tape measure. When he finally reached her, he asked, "Which is your wand arm?"

Mikan, not knowing what really 'wand arm' means, just raised her right arm in front of her.

He then started measuring her from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round her head. Although after he measured shoulder to finger, the tape measure seemed to work on its own as Ollivander mumbled, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful substance. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons."

He took some boxes from the shelves and told Mikan, "Try them, young girl."

Mikan tried every one of the suggested wands but nothing satisfied Ollivander.

"Hmm…," Ollivander whispered to himself after some time he still haven't found a compatible wand for the girl, "you are quite a hard one, little girl. Maybe because the wand chooses its own master."

Mikan looked quite uneasy. "Is it possible that there aren't any wand compatible for me? You just said that the wand chooses its own master, right?"

"No! I'm going to find a wand for you. Hmm…" Ollivander thought again what may be compatible for Mikan.

"Don't worry, Mikan," Harry said out of the blue.

"How could I not worry? Mou," Mikan pouted.

"When I bought my wand, it took quite a while too."

"Oh… Okay then."

"Here," Ollivander said as he descended from a ladder. "This wand has the weirdest combination out of all the wands I had made, not to mention it actually has two cores. Measuring 11" and a half, holly, a phoenix tail feather and a heartstring of an ice dragon. Hmm… quite a mystery how the wand works with two opposite cores: fire and ice. This wand is also perfect for charms. Now, try it." Ollivander opened a dusty rectangular box. **(***)**

Mikan nodded as she reached out her hand to take the wand in its box. Her fingers merely millimeters to go, Mikan retreated her hand due to a image coming to mind. Realizing what she's just done, she immediately apologized, "I'm sorry. I'm gonna take it this time."

Mikan reached her hand out again and when her fingers and the wand were just millimeters apart, she saw the very same image she saw earlier. Unconsciously, her eyes closed, as if she was trying to concentrate on seeing the image.

When she opened her eyes, she was in the world of the vision.

_This is weird._

_I don't know why but it's like there's a filter of red covering my eye sight. Or maybe it's just the lighting. _

_I looked up to see if my guess was right. I looked at my left and saw the setting sun. A red sunset could explain it._

_I turned around after hearing some nearby screams. _

_For a fraction of a second, I considered the thought of the voices being eerily familiar but dismissed it right away._

_-gasp-_

_What in the world...? _

_How could I possibly see this in…? _

_This isn't happening, is it?_

_Right in front of me, a woman who looks so much like mom was being captured as a girl who looks so much like me is screaming at the top of her lungs and unleashing her stolen alices anywhere. The woman was being dragged against her will as her capturer ran as fast as they could away from the woman's daughter, who was catching up to them in an amazing speed. Then suddenly, the capturers got faster and the girl had no choice but to run faster, which was impossible for her already beaten body. _

_When they got themselves to a clearing in the forest, the girl abruptly stopped in her tracks, her sweat and blood mixing as they fell on the grass. The capturers, along with the girl's mom, stopped too. _

Stop fooling yourself, Mikan. You know exactly who they are. The woman and the girl… they are us: you and your mom.

_[The scene paused as if waiting for our exchange to end.]_

_Stop. _

Why would I stop?

_I said, STOP IT! _

Stop what? Don't you want to know what happens next? I'm pretty sure you don't remember anything after that. – Grin –

_I don't wanna know either._

She opened her eyes and was in the real world once again, realizing that everything was a mess inside Ollivander's wand shop. She looked at the thing in her hand which was sending fiery blue and orange sparks around her: her wand.

**(*) - i didn't really mention the time they went to Diagon Alley did i? so i just went with afternoon. :]**

**(**) - i'm not sure what to make Ron say here so... :]**

**(***) - i'm not also sure if that's possible. :)  
**

**Author's note: **

**Ciaossu! (I'm currently addicted in khr :p) **

**It's me! :] heheh… guess it has been some time since my last update… which makes me wonder if someone is still reading this. **

**Anyhow, I enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading this. :] see you in my next update… **

**Ciao ciao!**


	6. Chapter 6 OxO

…**. Or maybe they are. Who knows? (the summary was cute off mysteriously. I swear there had been a few characters still left -_-)**

**A long chapter for you all! Heheh… ^_^**

"Amazing!" Mikan cheerily shouted prolonging the second syllable, forgetting (or choosing to forget) the fact that she was the cause of the unforgettable mess in front of her. "The sparks are blue and orange! Two of my favorite colors! Heheh… Aren't they beautiful? Ne? Ehh?" Mikan nearly shouted as she realized, again, that the wand shop was in a total mess. "What happened?" she asked the nearest person, Ron.

"Now _you're_ asking," Ron sighed in deep exasperation. "Thanks to you, we're buried in rubbles and swimming in dust." **(For some reason, I think I like that line. ^^)**

Ron dusted off, or at least tried to, a rather thicker-than-thin layer of dust settling on his clothes and hair, muttering all the while a string of colorful words.

Meanwhile, Mikan was searching for the remai— err, I mean the other people who was supposed to be with them, namely Harry, Hermione, Dumbledore, and the wand maker. She found the remaining four of them behind a shelf, clueless to why the heck they were there.

"Err… Hi professor," Mikan said unsure of what she should say in the current situation they were in.

"Well," Dumbledore said as he wiped his half-moon spectacles and put them back in place. "It seems that you have found the wand suited for you and vice versa. Mr. Ollivander, we will purchase the item," he said addressing the poor old man who was looking for his wand. Mikan helped him find his wand which was found sitting between Hermione and Harry.

While Dumbledore and Ollivander are talking, the teens are in their own heated discussion too.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sooo sorry. I didn't know how I did that but when I came back to reality, everything was already as it is now." Mikan was bowing her head countless times apologizing for making the shop unrecognizable and burying them in rubbles and making them swim in dust, according to Ron's narration.

"'Came back to reality?' What, you went to outer space and just got back? What are you, an alien?" Ron retorted, still angry that he was the most affected since he was standing nearest to her that time.

"Ron! The girl already apologized _millions _of times! And of course she's not an alien! How could you possibly say that to a sweet little girl? Honestly…," Hermione was rambling at Ron as to how he was treating the other brunette.

Mikan was still banging her head on the floor when Harry told her to stop since they were all okay and nobody was really hurt (LOUD protests were heard from Ron's side). Besides, she already found the wand for her.

Dumbledore called Mikan and told her it's getting dark and the three older students should also head back home, or wherever they were staying at. The three (Mikan, Hermione, and Harry) said their goodbyes while Ron was being a little hesitant, which made Hermione comment about him being childish.

"Bloody hell, mate. When we said our names, she didn't even react to your name! Who in the wizarding world won't know you anyway? She's just plain weird. And she's even shopping with the headmaster," Ron told his two friends about how he so found the girl weird.

"I won't say she's weird but there's something off about that girl, I'll admit," said Hermione.

"Off about what?"

"You remember when we arrived at Madam Malkin's, Professor greeted us but there was something that he said which bugged me."

"Get to the point, 'Mione."

"Geez. Fine. I was just trying to let you remember it yourselves. But anyway, he said he was quite happy with us actually befriending her. Doesn't it sound weird? It's like we _should _have been enemies or something."

"Nah. Doesn't sound weird to me."

"Really? But…"

"We must be really tired after all that, making you sputter some balderdash which really doesn't make sense** (as it implies in the word itself)**. Besides, it's getting late and we should go to bed. I've got a feeling it's gonna rain hard tomorrow."

Hermione watched as her two male friends went up to their rooms, living her alone on the table, still thinking she was right.

"I could've sworn I heard a tone from Professor which doesn't really mean what it sounds."

A few moments later, she retired to her bed, leaving the matter hanging.

Besides, she was betting that they were going to see Mikan again tomorrow.

On the following morning, unfortunately, the sun was covered by a blanket of heavy clouds which soon resulted to a quite heavy rain.

The Weasley family, along with the youngest son's two friends, made their way to King's Station, riding a small car which miraculously was able to transport them all.

They were successful going through the barrier and are currently sitting inside compartment somewhere in the middle of the train.

"Do you think we're gonna see Mikan soon?" Hermione asked, cutting off the boys from their talk about the recently held Quiditch World Cup **(not sure what it's really called :p)**. Neville was with them at this point of time.

"Who's that?"

"Oh, right. She's a transfer student this year, in second year, the headmaster said. We met her with the headmaster shopping for her things yesterday."

"Oh."

"But why'd you think we'd meet her soon?" Ron asked as he munched on a beheaded chocolate frog, courtesy of his mouth.

"I don't know. It's just… you could say it's just my feeling."

"Heh. Your feeling, you say."

"Say that to yourself!" Hermione huffed. "You said it yester night too. 'I've got a feeling it's gonna rain hard tomorrow,' isn't that what you said?"

At that, they all fell silent.

"So," Harry started, "what exactly are you implying?"

"I'm saying that if you were able to guess right, I might be able to get a right one too. And don't forget the size of Ron's brain compared to mine…" Hermione trailed off, making Ron a little furious.

"You…!"

He was cut off by the compartment door opening, revealing the second-year brunette they met yesterday.

"Oh!" said Mikan. "So you guys were here all along! I was looking for you all over the place. Although it didn't take me long to sense you three," she added in a hushed tone which the fourth years fortunately didn't hear.

"Err… yeah. This isn't the compartment we usually sit in," Harry said, offering her a seat. Mikan thanked him and took the seat beside him.

"So all of you guys are in the fourth year, right?"

"Yeah. And oh, this is our fellow fourth year Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom," Hermione gestured to her left side where Neville was sitting.

Neville muttered a "hi."

"Hi there Neville. I'm Sakura Mikan by the way," she introduced herself as she held out a hand. Neville took it and Mikan shook their hands.

"So you're… uhh… a first year?" Neville stuttered.

"Nu-uh. I'm the transfer student. I'm gonna enter in the second year."

Neville blushed at his mistake, Hermione even mentioned it! Mikan shook it off.

"It's okay, Neville. Everybody makes mistakes. By the way, have you ever heard about the accident with the…"

Soon enough, they also became friends.

"If it isn't the stinking mudblood and her petty friends," a boy with sleek blonde hair sneered at the group as he opened the door. Behind him were his ever faithful goons, who were complete idiots in everyone's opinion. **(I think something else is supposed to happen here but I can't just remember what that was. Hmm…)**

Harry stood up and faced Draco, angry with him insulting Hermione then and there.

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

"Oh, if it isn't the boy who lived, Harry Potter. No doubt you're not gonna let this chance to show off pass by, are you?"

"What chance, pale-faced?" Ron retorted.

Ironically, Draco Malfoy's pale face hinted a dash of pink.

But he answered nonetheless, "I guess your father is too low-leveled to know about it then. My father has always been associated with the highest ministry officers and knew about the matter long ago. Hmph. I won't stoop low as to say that to you."

He turned around and closed the doors in the process.

It was a miracle not to have fought with that bastard in the train as they had in their past years. Harry sighed and sat back on his seat.

"What do you think he's talking about?"

Shrugs were all Harry got. He sighed again. Dang. He's been doing that far too much for his liking.

"Well," Mikan starts to try to alleviate the mood, "I guess we'll know when we get to school right?"

"Guess so," was the short reply.

The trip to Hogwarts was uneventful, quiet even. Maybe they were all thinking of what was possibly going to happen this year in school.

Mikan tapped her fingers on her lap, thinking how boring it was for her first trip to be too quiet for her liking. Then she heard something.

Her companions' spirits nearly jumped out of their bodies as Mikan suddenly bolted the door open and stuck out her head, looking left and right.

"M…Mikan? What're you looking for?" Neville stuttered, being a little concerned for Mikan's frail looking neck.

Mikan's shoulders slumped, looking quite disappointed with herself. "N…nothing. I thought I just heard something."

"Heard what?"

"That's just it. I didn't know what it was."

Her companions oh-ed then went back to their silent mode. It was Mikan's turn to sigh.

Soon enough, they were told to change to their school robes.

"Mikan," Hermione asked, "not gonna change now?"

"Oh," Mikan looked up from a magazine she was reading. "All my things are in Hogwarts. I think I'll change when we get there." She smiled.

"Okay then." Hermione pulled the cloak to her shoulders.

The train then halted to a stop and a stampede of students pushed their way out of the train.

"Firs' years! Firs' years! Over here! Follow me!" A gigantic man with a shaggy beard called out, waving his hands back and forth.

"Hey Hagrid!" Mikan greeted as their little group neared the half-giant.

Hagrid smiled. "Hullo Mikan. Potter's gang, hiya." **(-_- I just do NOT know how to write Hagrid's words. Sorry everyone. Sigh. I think I'm making him sound some kind of… uhh… what do call that?)**

"Am I supposed to follow you or ride one of the, err… horseless carriages?" Mikan glanced at the horrible-looking horses pulling the "horseless carriages" but didn't show, or at least she tried not to, the disgust in her face because of the things she'd read in their minds. The thestrals were supposed to be visible only to people who have seen death. And she was supposed to act as a _normal_ 12-year-old girl. Well, as normal as _her kind _could get.

Hagrid didn't miss the hesitation but shrugged it off. "Yer supposed to follow me. Let's all get going then."

They both waved goodbye to the other four and went to the boats on the lake. Hagrid sat on the center of their boat while Mikan sat at the rear. They were all covered by wizard umbrellas **(please just imagine a normal umbrella with some not so normal functions) **as it was still raining pretty hard.

"Ugh," victims of the prank Peeves just pulled off complained, squeezing their robes dry, three of them being the Golden Trio.

"'Mione, don't you know some kind of drying spell? It's friggin' cold."

"Err… I forgot."

"You? Forget something? Hell's selling ice cream now I bet."**(hey! Did I just invent something or what? ^^)**

"Ronald!"

"Now, can we all just go to the Great Hall and take a seat? I'm practically starving." **(whoa whoa whoa! Rewind! Was Harry always been the peacemaker of the group? ?_?)**

Agreeing with the boy who lived, the three went down the Great Hall and each took a seat on the Gryffindor table. Harry was excited with the year's sorting since it would be the first one he'd be able to attend aside from his.

Dumbledore was on his usual seat, smiling at his students randomly and greeting the faculty as they took their seats on the same table. Soon he clapped his hands, demanding their attention.

"Socks, shoes, check," Mikan muttered to herself as she checked whether her uniform was complete. Hogwarts's uniform is quite different from Gakuen's after all. She studied herself in front of a full body mirror, which was quite annoying as it was commenting, in a nasty way at that.

"Grow out from those pigtails you foolish little brat!" the mirror practically shrieked at the brunette. "You're not a child anymore! Oh for Merlin's sake! You'll look a LOT better with your hair down!"

Mikan was now wondering why the hell this mirror was saying everything in exclamations.

But it was quite right, she thought. 'Natsume had commented about that too,' she thought with a rich color on her cheeks. Mikan shook away the thought, which she later found was an impossible feat, and headed downstairs.

But she followed its suggestion anyway. It wouldn't hurt, right?

She ran through the hallways thinking that she was going to be late and paused to catch her breath just in front of the slightly ajar double oak doors, just in time for her to hear Professor McGonagall call out…

"Hyuuga Natsume!"

**Woooooooot! Finally! I was actually planning for a 3000+ chapter but then I had always planned for that line to be the last so what can I do? Well, at least I was able to update now! **

**Oooh… I actually love this chapter! Hahhahah… :p**

**And I actually think I made a cliff hanger. Is it?**

**IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WHO'S STILL READING MY CROSSOVER? **

**I KNOW. I AM QUITE CRUEL FOR NOT UPDATING FOR LIKE 2 MONTHS BUT I THINK I MADE UP WITH THIS QUITE A LONG CHAPTER. **

**FORGIVE ME?**

**I just want to inform you of my thoughts about only being able to update for once in two months or maybe once a month. I'm not really sure since schoolwork is taking up most of my time. Sigh. If I could just… :p no way! Anyways, reviews are highly HIGHLY as in appreciated. Heheh.. I'm a little overfed of sugar nowadays. :p **


	7. Chapter 7 0w0

As Mikan heard _his _name, she was uber duper so dumbfounded she couldn't even think.

_What? Natsume? As in the Hyuuga Natsume I know? My partner? What the… _

Well, Mikan herself couldn't even describe what she felt that time.

Mikan was about to look through the gap between the door when an old man who goes by the name of Argus Filch **(is that his name?)** suddenly whipped her from her position and ordered her to immediately go to the back door to wait for her cue to come in. Mikan had no other choice but to obey so she left the door with GREAT disappointment.

^_^.^_^.^_^.^_^

"Hyuuga Natsume!" Prof. McGonagall called out, reading from the parchment. Hearing his name, a raven-haired young lad stepped out from the crowd of his fellow first years.

"The hell man! That kid's got crimson—redder than my hair—eyes! Gawd!" A redhead exclaimed to his lightning-scarred best friend who couldn't also believe what he's seeing.

"Must be some spell to change one's eye color," inserted a girl of the same group of friends.

The said Hyuuga Natsume sat down on the stool and the hat was placed on his raven head.

"Hmm… Might be," replied the redhead.

"But is that even possible? That kid's eyes are too fierce to be artificial."

"Well, maybe that's just his nature?" came another theory.

"Okay. So, what house do you think he'll be in?"

"Betcha he's a Slytherin bloke. With those eyes, it is just too obvious."

"Ronald! Just because the lad's got those eyes doesn't mean he's Slytherin material. I think he's gonna be in Gryffindor."

"No way, 'Mione! He's not gonna be in our house. Can't you see? With just his eyes, he can _freeze _people!" The redhead shuddered, intimidated by the thought. **(Actually, Ronald, it's just the TOTAL opposite. xD)**

"Don't you think he's taking too long?" The boy with the lightning scar stated, emphasizing the thought by propping his chin on his open palm. "I mean everybody else gets sorted just as the hat is placed on his head."

"Now that you said it, it quite is taking some time. The last time I remember someone taking this long was your sorting, Harry."

"Oh. Gee. Thanks for reminding me," Harry sarcastically said, rolling his emerald eyes. "But really, I don't know which house he'll be in."

"Not just Gryffindor, mate." The redhead again expressed his opinion.

Just then, the Sorting Hat announced, "Gryffindor!"

…

"The heck? Just when I said it shouldn't…" Ron's voice couldn't be heard through the squeals of the girls and jealous angry claps of the guys.

The hat was removed from the fierce-eyed guy and his tantalizing crimson eyes can be seen clearly.

The girls sighed dreamily as they floated away to their own world, imagining a Hyuuga Natsume in their arms. Oh, but _the _Hyuuga Natsume is already owned by a girl named Sakura Mikan… but since they don't know that, let's just let them be.

Natsume walked down the table, ignoring the seats offered by some new forming fan groups and some hate groups alike(which are actually guys), and sat on the end of the table.

And, unfortunately for a certain redhead, the end of the table was just a couple of chairs away.

"Why don't we make friends with him," Ron's brunette friend suggested.

"Can't you see he doesn't like people? Must have fitted with the Slytherins…"

"Come on Ronald! Just because he doesn't like crowds doesn't mean he doesn't like people. Who knows? He's a loner maybe and might want to make some friends." The trio glanced at the said boy who was approached by some daring girls. Natsume, however, glared at them, making them take back their seats somewhere on the table.

"See? He definitely doesn't want any friends." Ron smugly said.

"Whatever."

"This year is such a special year for we are going to be joined by a transfer student, the first for centuries. Please welcome Sakura Mikan!" Dumbledore gestured towards the back door (which is usually used by the teachers) as it opened and revealed an exceedingly lovely lady of twelve. She had silky wavy brunette hair which hung to her waist, innocent eyes lie on her lovely heart-shaped face.

She had a smile on her face as she walked towards Dumbledore. It widened as she glanced at the trio and an invisible blush crept on her cheeks as her gaze fell upon a certain someone by the end of the Gryffindor table.

"As everyone probably knows, she will be entering the second year and was sorted during the summer…"

"What? She didn't mention that to us," Hermione whispered to herself.

"… And the sorting hat deemed her to be worthy to be in the house of Salazar Slytherin."

What.

The.

Heck.

Mikan?

A Slytherin?

Her three friends couldn't believe their ears as Dumbledore said it.

"Impossible," Hermione whispered disbelievingly. "Mikan doesn't act like a Slytherin at all! Why of all the houses…"

"Even if I did have a grudge on her, I don't think she'd be in Slytherin man. She's too… bubbly to be one!"

"You're right there, Ron. She's too innocent to be like them," Harry said it like venom while looking at a sleek-haired lad.

Mikan, on the other hand, bit her lower lip and began walking towards the table of green and silver, the infamous enemy of the gold and red one, which is where _he _is. She sighed in disappointment but tried to have a smile on her face. _Tried. _

But then there was this guy who she met in the train. The one who insulted her brunette friend. She glared at him mentally but thought that maybe first impressions aren't really the truth. Well, if he wanted to make friends, she could become his friend and get to know the real him. I mean, it isn't just justice to be enemies with a guy you only met once before, right?

^.^_^.^_^.^_^.^

If looks could really kill, that sleek blonde guy will be butchered into unrecognizable pieces and would probably be burned to ashes right now.

"How dare _he _touch my girl...," Natsume's thoughts was filled with different cruel and vicious methods on how to kill the said guy. Ah, if only he could kill his new found enemy then he would be at peace.

He was unaware of the rising temperature of the usually chill Great Hall. His fellow Gryffindors are receiving the full blast and was fanning themselves with random things, the plate, their scarf or their hands.

Suddenly, the temperature returned to normal and everyone was wondering what the hell happened. Some made theories and accepted them as facts.

Natsume looked at _his _polka and knew it was her doing. Mikan was thinking the same thing and ended up staring at each other's eyes.

^.^_^.^_^.^_^.^

It was over a minute but Mikan and Natsume still didn't break eye contact. This made Hermione really nervous.

"Do they know each other?" Hermione asked to herself but unfortunately, she was heard by her best friends.

"Know who?" asked Ron.

"The Natsume kid and Mikan. They've been staring at each other like there's no tomorrow."

"Well, if you've looked into crimson eyes, wouldn't you be at a daze and result in staring?" was Harry's guess.

"But if you look at how they were staring at each other, you could tell they knew each other already."

"Really? I didn't notice…" Ron didn't finish his statement when food had suddenly appeared on the plates.

^.^_^.^_^.^_^.^

Dumbledore clapped his hands and the food disappeared, forcing the students to give back their attention to him.

"This year is special for two reasons. First is the transferring of Mikan Sakura and the second is the Triwizard Tournament to be held here in Hogwarts this year!" It took some seconds for the news to sink into the minds of the student. And when it did, the hall roared in cheers.

"So that's what is happening here," Harry finally realized.

"But," Dumbledore added, "there were some changes in the rules of the tournament. There were originally three schools but a separate school was hired to be guards for this tournament. And to be guards, the school was forced to participate in the tournament."

"What? My dad didn't tell me this!" Malfoy was having an outburst for not knowing about this in advance and that his father would blah blah blah.

Mikan just looked at him as if he had sprouted another head. He really is too haughty for her liking.

Then Dumbledore told them one thing which made her choke on air, "and the school to be added is called Gakuen Alice!"

**^.^_^.^_^.^_^.^**

**Yey! I squeezed this in my exams! :ppp**

**Anyways, is it a good thing if the academy will participate? I'm not really sure with my decision but I had made a plot if they do. So please tell me your opinions, okay?**

**i didn't reread this chapter so i'm not really sure if there're some mistakes. please tell me if there are.**

**I really don't like the current summary so I'm gonna change it sooner or later. **

**So, I hope everyone liked and enjoyed this chapter as much as I do. You can express your 'likeness' or 'enjoyness' through reviews. I always get motivated with your reviews!**

**Oh since**_** cat **_**is an anonymous reviewer, I'm gonna answer here. I'm really sorry but The Mysterious New Student is on permanent hiatus. I'm really so sorry but I think I'm gonna continue with this one. **

**Speaking of which, I think I should congratulate myself for continuing this fic for more than four chapters! If some people actually bothered to look at my profile and at my fic box, you would've noticed my multi-chaptered fics to all end at the 4****th**** chapter. So, I'm so glad I'm writing the seventh right now! ^_^ heheheh… a round of applause for missyJuliette! :p**

**Heheh… so… reviews please? **


	8. Chapter 8 XoX

**OMG! I forgot Mad Eye's dramatic entrance! O_O omo! Anyways, forgive me people so could you please just add his entrance to your mental story? Thanks very much. *grins sheepishly* **

Gakuen Alice? The eyes of the two alices in the Great Hall widened as they glanced at each other.

For a moment Mikan thought that that was the reason of Natsume's being here but quickly dismissed the thought that it was. No, he was too astonished himself to be so.

Natsume, on the other hand, cursed under his breath. Everything is happening too fast; faster than what he had anticipated. Unless…

"I will remind all of you once again that the forest is forbidden," Dumbledore interrupted his thoughts. "And for the first years, the curfew is at six **(totally made up. I don't recall having read anything about curfews. If you do, please tell me.) **And we expect everyone to be tucked in bed at that time. Also, we have a new teacher for the subject Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Alastor Moody."

At that, a man with an interesting eye stood up and eyed the students with the eccentric eyes of his. Harry didn't know whether he should be glad with this new teacher or not.

"Man," Ron complained in a low voice beside him, "I guess I'd still prefer Prof. Lupin over this guy here. He's reported to be nuts."

"But he is a recognized auror too, Ronald," Hermione, seated at Harry's other side, pushed her head forward a little to be able to see Ron's face. "If there's someone who'd be a perfect teacher for the subject, it'd be an auror. They're experienced against the dark arts."

"Well, I can say you-"

He was cut off when a noise erupted in the Slytherin table, particularly near Mikan.

"What the heck?" A second-year guy's voice reached the trio's ears. When they looked closer, they saw that the hand of the guy who just had an outburst was burning. Seeing this, Madame Promfey **(gee, I can't remember her name! please correct me if I am wrong) **immediately took over and summoned some iced water but the water seemed unable to quench the blazing fire. Nearby, Mikan was in panic.

"Excuse me," she gently told the school nurse, "I think I know how to put out the fire." But the nurse didn't budge so she had to raise her voice a little, "EXCUUUSE MEEEE, I THINK I KNOW HOW TO PUT OUT THE FIRE." But still, the nurse didn't budge so she just had to do it without anyone knowing.

"Whoa! The fire disappeared suddenly!" A nearby first year exclaimed then after a while, everyone was marveling too. During the second commotion, Mikan was eyeing Natsume in a rather pissed off way.

"And why did you just do that, Natsume?" Mikan's eyes said to Natsume's indifferent ones. As a response, Natsume looked away; the darkness covered his moving mouth. Mikan looked annoyed, a vein popped in her forehead. "Is he making me mad?" was what was in her mind. She didn't notice her hand had balled to fist. She inhaled and told herself, "Calm down, Mikan. Natsume's just doing his daily routine: making you mad. So calm down and relax."

The people had quieted down and were obediently seated on their places. A certain trio was discussing their theory about the accident, their heads bowed together.

"What d'you reckon 'bout that?" Ron asked his two best friends.

"Well, it seemed that someone had cast a spell at him which makes it burn." Hermione answered.

"But Madame Promfey's water didn't do a thing to it. It's like it made the water its fuel." Harry shared.

"Yes. That's the strange thing about the fire. But then it suddenly disappeared as it appeared! How can that happen?"

"Maybe the caster, like extinguished it himself?"

"And you mean Madame Promfey doesn't know the reverse spell? That's improbable."

"And why not?"

"Well, Madame Promfey certainly knows a lot more about magic than us, Ronald."

"But there might be-"

"Did you notice that Natsume-boy? You know, while everyone was wondering how the fire suddenly appeared. He was like talking to no one."

"No, we didn't. What exactly happened, Harry?" Hermione gestured to even lower their voices.

"There was a fuss about the fire, right? And during that, he turned his head to the right and then his mouth moved, as if he's speaking to someone!"

"Do you think he's nuts?"

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed then turned to Harry, "Are you sure he spoke to somebody else? He might just be speaking to himself."

"'Mione, I assure you, that guy is absolutely nuts! With the red eyes, who knows what he'd been eating? Or maybe drinking or smelling?"

"Are you implying he's in drugs? That's rude, Ronald."

"But his eyes-"

"I don't know whether he was just speaking to himself. I mean if he was, he won't need to turn his head."

"Maybe he was talking to someone else!" Hermione realized.

"And how is that?"

"Harry didn't see the whole thing so he might've missed something important! Say, maybe someone was having eye contact with him. That's not improbable."

"And who do you suppose he was talking to? He's still a first year and he's antisocial. I don't think there are any."

"There is." Hermione said as she glanced at Natsume to check if he was listening. Then she added in a really hushed voice, "I think it's Mikan."

"What?" Ron had exclaimed in a loud voice; their housemates looked at him like he'd grown a second pair of feet.

"Shhh! What if he hears us? Keep your voices down!" Hermione yanked Ron's head back to their circle.

"Why'd you think it was Mikan? They don't know each other." Harry said with a carefully muted voice.

"I told you my suspicions. They were having eye contact earlier! They might've done it again."

"That's logical."

"So what are we gonna do?"

The three looked at each other's eyes then a mischievous smile crept up the boys' lips.

"What are you two planning to do?" Hermione, ever the peace maker of the group, asked her best friends with a slightly frantic voice. The two looked at her with a smirk, "What do you think we are?"

xOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOx

It was a quarter of an hour after ten when the swish of a cloak was heard, another quarter had passed when three footsteps were heard in the corridors.

"Ouch! Look where you're going Ronald!" A bushy brunette shouted at her friend with a controlled voice.

"Sorry!" the redhead said rather exasperatedly. "I don't think we fit in this cloak as we did three years ago. 'Arry, do you reckon we can expand this with a spell?"

"I never tried but I don't want my cloak to be ruined so I might as well be safe. No, I don't think so." The three troublemakers were making their way through the big doors of the castle. "According to the map, the Natsume kid and Mikan are together near the Whomping Willow. Oh for Merlin's beard, why there?"

The three were now walking on the considerably damp grass. Their pace slowed as they were careful not to make any noise. They wouldn't want to face the unknown wrath of the red-eyed kid. They were merely 4 meters away from the duo now.

"So Natsume," Mikan glared at the boy in front of her with her hands on her hips, "what do you think were you doing earlier?"

Natsume just looked at the marvelous girl in front of him with his indifferent crimson eyes. "Do what?"

"Do what, you say. Did you think I'm that dumb to not know that _you_ put that pitiful guy's hand on fire?"

Natsume's eyes narrowed infinitesimally with jealousy. _If that damned guy is getting Mikan's attention more than me, I swear I'm gonna roast him alive._

Meanwhile, the trio gasped at the information. "So it was Natsume after all," the three thought.

"No. As of I know the current Polka is smarter than she was some two years ago." Mikan blushed at the mention of her old nickname. The trio snickered. The two were just acting _so _like a married couple.

"D… Don't mention that name again!"

"And why not?" Natsume was clearly enjoying Mikan's annoyance.

Mikan gulped. "Just because."

"Hnn.. Whatever you say, cherries." Smirk.

It took a while for Mikan's mind to take in what he just said.

"Y…YOU PERVERT! WOULD YOU STOP PEEKING AT MY PANTIES?" The trio's nose burst with blood.

"And will you, idiot, stop screaming at my ears…, cherries."

Mikan cheek's were flushed a brand new shade of crimson. "Natsume no baka!" Mikan was in the fatal position in seconds.

After a few minutes, uncharacteristically, it was Natsume who cut off the silence, "Imai wanted me pass you a message."

**xOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOx**

**YAY! So sorry for the late update my readers (if ever there are still). I don't know but I'm quite enjoying writing this fic.**

**And about the Natsume no baka, I'm not sure if it's grammatically correct. Again, please inform me of my mistakes! **

**So, reviews, please? **


	9. Chapter 9 oUo

It was already half past eight but the students of a certain ability group were still up and wide-eyed as they took in the next big mission they were gonna have.

"Wizards? Are you kidding us, Persona-sensei?"

The masked teacher narrowed his eyes at this student. "Matsudaira Hayate," the said student gulped unconsciously, "Since when have I been telling jokes?"

Hayate's colleagues laughed mockingly in the background. He would've glared at them if Persona wasn't staring at him like a murderer's next victim.

"Umm..," he stuttered as he racked his mind for something to say. "When you and Nobara got toge…" He was cut off short as Persona turned his back on him and addressed the snickering class.

"Stop your snickering and get yourselves to bed." He was about to leave the room when a shy girl of fifteen interrupted him.

"Aren't there missions to do, Persona-sensei?" She was looking up to her teacher with her innocent blue eyes.

For a second, Persona's own cold eyes softened. "There's nothing to do for now." He then spoke in a louder voice, addressing the whole class, "There will be no mission starting now until the end of the Hogwarts mission, with the exception of emergencies, of course."

The students erupted in cheers as they heard the good news. Persona, however, burst their bubble, "In exchange for this, all of you are expected to train further to be able to guard this tournament with little trouble. Is that understood?"

All of them nodded their heads, a little disappointed but happy nonetheless.

"Isn't that a good thing, Hotaru-chan?" Nobara addressed to the girl genius beside her. Hotaru did not respond, even with a nod. Nobara sighed. Hotaru has been giving everyone the cold shoulder since Mikan went away with her mother. "Hotaru?"

"Yes, I guess it is." With that, she closed her faithful laptop and exited the room.

"Don't feel so bad, Nobara-san." A kind voice called out from behind her. "She's been acting that way for almost two years now. I wonder when she'll stop doing that."

"You're right, Ruka-san. But I guess you are quite enjoying her not taking pictures of you anymore."

Ruka smiled, amused. "Maybe I do."

"Or maybe you are missing it." Nobara said with a devious tone. A blush made its way to his already rosy cheeks.

"Hey!"

The two laughed as they proceeded to exit the room. "Just give in, lover boy."

Nobara, since her meeting with Mikan, is now able to speak to people close to her without her usual shyness. Mikan taught her that real friends will accept you for who you are. Well, considering her ice of a best friend, it was definitely true.

"I," Ruka stuttered as he tried to cover an even more reddening blush, "I don't have anything to give in."

"Hmm..," Nobara looked at him unbelievingly, "Whatever you say, lover rabbit." She waved him goodbye as she went on the way for the high school dormitories.

xOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOx

"Eh?" Mikan looked up from her fatal position. "For real? What did she say,Natsume?"

Instead of answering, he just smirked and inserted both of his hands into his pockets. Infuriated, Mikan shouted his name.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

"Shut up, will ya?"

"That's why I say tell me already!" Mikan put her hands on her hips.

"She just wanted me to tell you that you still owed her 3918 rabbits. And that if you don't come back sooner she'll have to raise the monthly interest to 50%. Happy now?"

Mikan's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

His crimson orbs looked at her knowingly. "Of course I am."

"-sniff-sniff- Hotaru's so..," Interrupted by another sniff, Natsume didn't expect what she said next. "..sweet. –sniff-"

"Are you kidding? She just told you she'd raise the bill and you're happy?"

"Natsume," she told him as she wiped another tear of happiness, as she so-called it. "Hotaru is just implying she misses me. That she wants me to come back soon. Can't you tell?"

With a roll of his eyes, he told her, "obviously not, Polka. I don't know what got into you but I don't interpret it that way." After a few boring minutes of watching his beloved wiping supposed to be tears of happiness, he began to make his way to the castle.

"Natsume!" Mikan called out. "Where are you going?"

"To bed, idiot. I'd rather be sleeping than watching you do… that."

Mikan pouted but then realized, "Do you know your way in the castle? You might get lost."

Natsume somehow glared at her. "I'm not called a genius for nothing, one star."

"I was just concerned. It's your first day here and.."

"Whatever."

"Hmph!" Mikan ran to catch up to him. And when she had, she punched him a little bit not so light on the shoulder. "You should really change your attitude, Natsume. Being your partner back at school was so tiring. Having to bear with that cocky attitude of yours is no piece of cake, you know. I'd bet you won't make any friends here. I even wonder how you and Ruka-pyon became best buddies. And how Youichi became.."

She was however cut off from her speech as Natsume brushed a quick kiss on her cheeks, almost to the corner of her lips.

"WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR, YOU PERVERT!" Mikan practically shouted for the whole neighborhood to hear.

"What would a peck on the cheek be compared to _two_ kisses on the lips, Polka? And don't wake up the entire castle just for that."

Hearing this, the trio hidden underneath Harry's cloak was terribly shocked. For real, they asked themselves. Mikan and Natsume… oh Merlin, they almost fainted due to loss of blood from the second time their nose bled.

Mikan was fuming. "The first, Natsume, was just an accident okay? So that doesn't count. And you being a pervert under the Christmas tree were just… ugh! You disgusting cocky pervert!" And she went off for the Slytherin dungeons, still not believing she let down her guard for a moment.

Fine, she _did_ admit that she loved him. But, there was just an unexplainable feeling lingering inside her.

Frustration? No, that was not it.

Anger? Definitely not that, either.

Disappointment? Hmm… it may be. But if it was, she couldn't put why she would feel that way. Was it because it was only for a matter of seconds? Or only on her cheek?

No freaking way, she thought as she slapped herself mentally. _That _definitely was not it.

On Natsume's side, he was virtually banging his head on an invisible, unbreakable wall. Dammit, he cussed silently. Just what was he thinking? Kissing Mikan on her full rosy cheek and…

Must be the parfait he ate in dinner. Yeah, that must be it. He swears he would never again eat such sweet confectionery for the rest of his life.

Except maybe if it was Mikan's cooking.

Reaching the portrait of the fat lady, he mumbled the password, made his way to his bed and fell to deep sleep.

xOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOx

Months passed quickly and the day of the visitors' arrival was coming fast. Students buzzed excitedly for the said day.

"I would like to remind everyone," Dumbledore's voice boomed at dinner the night before the visitors' arrival. "Though from the looks on your faces, doesn't really need some reminding. Tomorrow night, the students, accompanied by their corresponding headmasters, are going to arrive here in the humble castle of Hogwarts. I must warn you all though," he added in some kind of tone the students can't quite put, "The guardian school named Gakuen Alice has a magic different from our own."

The two alice looked at each other knowingly as their schoolmates wondered what their headmaster had meant. And the mystery remained as it was until tomorrow night.

"Are these people really coming? I mean we've been waiting for hours," complained a red head somewhere in the crowd. It was true and it showed in the tired faces of his fellow students.

"You're exaggerating, Ronald," his brunette friend commented from beside him. "We've only waited for twenty minutes."

"Well whatever. I am tired from all the standing…."

"Hey look!" shouted a sixth year student. "Over there!"

"It's a dragon," shrieked a first year, shutting her eyes and covering her ears with her hands.

"No, idiot," Colin Creevey told her. "Can't you see? It's a flying house." His guess was closer and when the unidentified flying object came nearer, they realized they were giant horses pulling an even larger carriage. The horses landed on the damp lawn with little difficulty.

Dumbledore stepped in front to meet the giant headmistress from the Beauxbaton Academy of Magic along with her students. Soon enough, they entered the hall to warm themselves up.

Everyone kept glancing at the sky now, thinking the other school would appear from it too. They all did so until they heard a somewhat gurgling sound.

"The lake!" someone noticed and everyone whipped around to get a better look. It wasn't calm anymore but had ripples forming around a tall wooden thing rising from it. Soon it turned out to be the ship where the Durmstrang students, with their headmaster, were traveling with.

"Man, that weird named school's the only one left now," complained Ron to Hermione.

"Just wait, Ronald. They should be here pretty soon."

And true enough, the wonders of Alice started to unfold.

It was snowing; the tiny crystals made their way downward to the damp grass and did not melt. Soon enough, the snow was ankle deep and the snowing stopped. Instead, the wind blew the snowflakes around, making a snowy fog. It hid the forest from their view but they started to make out some dark shapes beyond. The air started to waft this sweet caramel-y fragrance; like it was making them float with its sweetness of fragrance.

Then they saw it.

There were ten people coming into view from the forest, lining up in a horizontal line. The person leading the group was a young man with porcelain skin and a white mask covering half his face.

His very own demeanor frightened the Hogwarts students. He might be worse than Snape, they concluded.

"Good evening," the man said.

Dumbledore stretched out his hand to greet him, "Good evening." The man shook Dumbledore's hand with his own gloved one.

"We are terribly sorry to inform you that our headmaster is currently too ill to attend this tournament himself. But rest assured, if he gains enough stamina, he will come here himself."

"Is that so? Well then, please come inside the castle to warm yourselves up." Dumbledore gestured toward the opened oak doors.

"Thank you." The man whose name was still unknown to the Hogwarts students turned to his students and told them in a language they didn't understand, "Get inside. And remember, do _not _use your alice as you do in the academy. The people here do not understand the concept of it."

Most of the Gakuen Alice students nodded and proceeded to go inside the warm Hall; all but one girl with curly blue hair.

"Mikan-chan?"

xOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOx

**Yay! Updated at last! I really am terribly sorry for the really late chapter. I hope this one is long enough. And thanks for the corrections. :D**

**You people are just too generous! Over 15 reviews for the last chapter? I am so not used to that. But thanks, anyway. Everything my readers say is appreciated. :)**

**So, tell me what you can say. (especially the scene with Natsume and Mikan.. I am not used to making romance fics. =_= I am not even that into romance animes but yeah, I am trying so please tell me if I am doing well. Thank you very much. ^_^**


	10. Chapter 10 OTL

"Mikan-chan?"

Shocked and wide-eyed, the students of Gakuen Alice turned around to make sure they heard her right.

"What did you say, Nobara?" Tsubasa held her arm with his right hand, the other still inside his side pocket.

"M-Mikan-chan," she stuttered as she looked at him, a little bit fazed from Tsubasa grabbing her arm. "She was just right there." she whipped around to point where Mikan was standing just some seconds ago. "Eh? Where did she go?"

Tsubasa clicked his tongue. "She must've used her teleportation stone."

"But you can't apparate inside the school grounds," Hermione suddenly blurted out. She shut her mouth the second she realized what she just did. "Sorry. Nevermind."

"Hmm. That's alright. I don't even know what apparate means." The flabbergasted looks on the Hogwarts students made him ask, "What?"

"Nothing," a boy with a lightning scar on his forehead answered. "It's only that just about everyone from around here knows what the word means. It's strange for you not to know."

"Obviously, we have a different term for that," retorted a violet-eyed lass, insulted that they practically thought they were dumb.

"Oh, nevermind what she said," a handsome boy with a bunny in his arms interrupted, seeing the slightly twitching eyebrows of the inventor. He changed the subject. "Is it just me or does the scar on your forehead resemble a lightning?" He pointed to the guy next to the brunette.

"In fact it does," replied the lightning-scarred boy's friend. "And it has history why it does so."

"Eh, really? Like his parents' enemy dabbed a scalding screwdriver on his forehead and was pretty much a bad artist making the supposed-to-be snake a lightning?"

Preceded by a long laugh, the scarred boy answered, "Actually, your reasoning is pretty much almost accurate. I mean about my parents' enemy and the snake thing. I'm starting to think Voldemort has this penchant for snakes." His fellow Hogwarts students cringed at the mention of the forbidden name.

"Oh," replied the Gakuen Alice students, not knowing who this 'Voldemort' really is. Speaking their mind, they asked the self-same question. "So… who's this Voldemort?"

xOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOx

"The tournament taking place this year is really special as a new school is joining the TriWizard Tournament. I don't know if they would change the name, but the tournament is the tournament! Let's open it with a feast!" Dumbledore's voice boomed through the now more crowded Great Hall. The Beaubaxtons were seated with the Ravenclaws, the Durmstrang with the Slytherins, and the Alices with the Gryffindor, whom they had befriended.

"That Voldemort guy is evil," concluded Tsubasa after hearing the story of the boy who lived. "I mean killing your parents because of a prophecy and stuff. I guess this Voldemort is..," He was cut off short though when Ron gave an exasperated sigh. An explanation was asked.

"Not to be rude or anything but," he explained, "I just still can't bear to hear the name of he-who-must-not-be-named being said so… casually. Sure, I'm used to it when Harry says it but well, you barely knew him and well…"

"Well? That's the point, right? We don't know him so what's the fuss?" Tsubasa grinned. Misaki slapped him on the back of his head. Hard.

"Ouch, you—"

"I'm apologizing for this wimp here— "Who's the wimp?"—who doesn't have any manners. Please do excuse this retard's –"You're going too far, Misaki…"—ill manners. You see," Misaki continued on, seemingly unaware of the evil aura surrounding her best friend, "he was admitted into the academy when he was still really young, I think when we were six or seven. And the teachers themselves can't discipline such a rebellious young lad. And so he was given that lame tattoo by that sadistic gay to, at least, suppress this—hey! What..? You shadow bastard!" Misaki shouted loud enough to be heard by the Great Hall.

For some reasons unknown to the wizards, she was incessantly jumping up and down on her chair. But for the Alices, this was no new scene.

"Tsubasa, won't you forgive her _again _this time?" Nobara pitifully looked at Misaki's jumping figure. She sure was a pathetic sight.

"Nu-uh," Tsubasa rolled his eyes pretending to be unaware of the scene caused by him. "She asked for it. And I warned her," he added with a little glare.

"Oh, alright!" Misaki's breathing reduced to short breaths. Then suddenly, she stopped midair and landed gently on her feet onto the floor. She turned her head sharply to Tsubasa. "Hey, did you..?"

"Hell no," he replied with the same confused look on his face. Then it struck him. "She really must be here."

"Well, I told you I saw her."

"But nobody else did."

"That just means you're blind, Matsudaira."

"What did you say, Nobara?.."

"Umm… Can you tell us what's happening?" asked Hermione whose mind was in a rack. She had thought that Misaki was under the Imperius Curse (though Misaki was retorting) but when both Misaki and Tsubasa, who she thinks was the one who casted the spell, didn't know how it stopped, she changed her mind.

"Nothing," they smoothly replied. But of course, Hermione isn't the brain of the Golden Trio for no reason. She knew they were lying.

"You're lying," Ron accused, somewhat in a laid-back way. Harry nodded beside him.

"Maybe we are, maybe we're not," they answered. They weren't paying attention to the three, though, and it was apparent because their eyes seemed to skim over the faces present in the Great Hall. The trio followed their eyes and noticed something.

"Hey, that Natsume guy is not on his usual place, is he? And to think of it, they may be referring to the same Mikan we know. Oh goodness, why didn't I think of it before?" Hermione rattled to herself, unaware the alices can hear her well enough.

"What do you mean Natsume's here?"

xOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOxOx

! I am terribly sorry for this really really really laaaateee chapter. I am very much sorry. You can blame school, my writer's block and my sickness (such as laziness and fever xD). but seriously, I am very sorry. May you forgive me? And I do think my writing's gone bad. OTL.. sorry yet again.


	11. Chapter 11 orz

"What do you mean Natsume's here?"

Ruka was having a war within his self. Part of his being wanted to be happy even at the shadow of a possibility that his best friend was still up and kicking, but another part of him was dreading the fact that he is even having a speck of hope that he was indeed alive. What would happen if _that _person knows about this? The certainty that he would be targeted _again_ would be like proving that the sky is blue, and blood red. It was an inevitable.

_Damn this all._

"D'you mean Hyuuga Natsume?" Matsudaira asked, unknowingly voicing out everyone's questions. He may be an idiot at most times, but he _had _been trained to be an agent, a spy, an assassin. He was bound to pick up things from the geniuses.

"Er—yeah.. I think that's what he's supposed to be called. Don't know much about him though," Ron looked like he was trying to remember things he's heard in the corridors. "'Cept he has crimson eyes and the champion death glare. He still has a fan club, though. Stupid women."

"That sounds like him, alright," the Alices collectively murmured, eliciting a small smile to creep on the corners of their lips.

"Anyway, where do you think they might be?"

And just as the words left Tsubasa's lips, the double oak doors creaked loudly as a great force pushed it open.., revealing a very attractive brunette, her silky hair flowing magically behind her, hazel eyes twinkling brighter than the enchanted stars above them, the normal Hogwarts uniform looking as though a goddess's robe.

The boys in the hall, available or not, blushed prettily at the sight of her.

.THE INVISIBLE FIERY GLARE.

And the spell broke. They all blinked several times, a vain attempt to wash the sight of a deity from their minds.

"M… Mikan!"

The said brunette's smile widened to a grin as she looked at her long unseen friends. She was about to set a foot forward when she remembered something.

"I don't know about you," she started to shout to the seemingly empty corridor to her right, "but I do sure miss them!"

And with that said, she skipped towards the table laden with red and gold, where a certain raven-haired girl was polishing what looked like a crossover between a machine gun and a rifle.

"Hotaru!" She hugged the said girl from behind but was forced back as three bullets pelted her on the forehead one after the other, the signature rapport of 'BAKA BAKA BAKA' echoing throughout the entire hall. The students and staff alike stared at the violet-eyed lass as if she had grown another nose. The Alices did not do much other than fall onto the floor comically and sweat dropping, though.

"Itaii, Hotaru-chan. Mou," Mikan pouted as she rubbed the sore part of her head, her fingers covered with a glow that would almost be invisible if people don't look hard enough.

"That," the stoic inventor sighed as she got herself up from her seat, "was for leaving us. Be thankful I didn't use the bazooka version 156." Then, she smiled a small smile, indistinguishable if you haven't known her enough.

Hayate's jaw fell to the floor with a soft thump as he saw his "Cool Blue Sky" wearing a smile, and when he had recovered from the initial shock, shook Nobara (who was seated on his left) mutedly telling her, "She smiled! She smiled! Cool blue sky just smiled!"

Simultaneously, Ruka unconsciously blushed at the sight of Hotaru smiling, and unknowingly let out a small smile, too.

"OH MY GOD! HE'S SO HOT!"

"Water here! She's passed out!"

"You think he has a girlfriend?"

"I wanna be that bunny in his arms!"

"HE SMILED~!"

"Ooohh," Tsubasa spoke up from beside him with a teasing tone, "bunny boy's blushing." Ruka blushed even more but said nothing, as he knew his words will just be held against him.

"But anyway," Tsubasa turned away from the animal lover and to his beloved kouhai, "Mikan! Where the hell have you been? And you finally gave up with the pigtails!"

Mikan laughed, "What do you mean by '_finally_'?" She bear-hugged him, as usual. "I missed you so much, senpai!"

Another shiver went up Tsubasa's spine, the sensation eerily similar to the 'invisible fiery glare' he received earlier. He sweat-dropped as he finally realized only who can send that kind of glare.

But then, realization hit him in the face. "_Why— But Natsume should be… Shit. This whole damn thing is a mess. If that was Natsume, what the hell is he doing here? We told him he should get the hell away from that bastard. Oh right, this is halfway across the world from him, of course he'd think he is hell away from him. _

"_The fuck, if that bastard does show up here, he won't have any chances anymore! Tricks like that only work once. But…_"

"Senpai? Earth to senpai!" Mikan was waving her hand in front of his face. He shook his head to get rid of the thoughts, for now.

"What is it?"

"Nothing. You were just spacing out. And no, I haven't been reading your mind." She grinned.

"That's good of you. But where have you been?" He asked as he looked around the hall. He was dead sure he felt Natsume's presence just as he felt the glare. He should be somewhere near enough.

"Nowhere. I just went to the kitchen to tell something to the chefs. Teehee."

They hadn't noticed at all when the food seemingly appeared out of nowhere, filling the empty plates and goblets with various food and drinks alike. But something was a bit off. Right in front of Nobara and Hayate something small and sweet and many, popped out from thin air and landed on all the available spaces on the table. Something fluffy, and cloud-like. Something they absolutely love.

"HOWALONS!" The Alices cried out in unison, before grabbing handfuls of the said sweet, and munching them in a child-like way. The other Gryffindor students noticed then the puffy candies on their table, hesitantly taking one and tasted it. Finding it good, they gobbled up more and were in heaven of confectioneries.

"Bloody hell! This is so good!" Ron had grabbed another handful of howalons as he gulped down the remains of his chicken.

"I know right?" Tsubasa said from his right. "This is a school fave and it deserves why so."

"I don't mean to be rude but..," Hermione, from Ron's left, started as she fidgeted with the poor howalon in her hand, "why did you all seem so disturbed about Natsume and Mikan? Your reactions from earlier were too extreme to be called ordinary and—"

"They're former school mates, y'see," Hayate said after a huge gulp of pumpkin juice, promptly setting the golden goblet back on its place on the table. "Mikan went away with her mother a time ago then some shit happened and Natsume somehow got out too. Though I am pretty sure I saw with my own eyes when that bastard of an old geezer-child ki-.. Pretty long story if you'd ask me."

"Did you say something? Ki-? Can you repeat that?"

Hayate was waving his hands in front of him fervently, beads of perspiration having a race behind his head as he panicked. "You must have heard me wrong! I didn't say anything like that! Ahahah..," He resorted to an awkward laugh which made his comrades sweat drop.

"If you say so.."

Then, the second time that fairly eventful evening, the double oak doors creaked loudly as it made way for a certain crimson-eyed lad. Hands in his pockets, his impassive ruby eyes scanned the room, looking relatively at ease with all the attention he was getting from a certain table.

"N.. Natsume!"

And the heads collectively turned to see the infamous Hyuuga Natsume.

**~TT^TT**

**UWAAAAAAH! ALL OF YOU PEOPLE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO GET ANGRY AT ME. I have to admit I had all the time in the world for the past couple of months but I never updated this even once until now. Even I am angry at myself OFFICALLY now. **

**I think I have to say my reasons as to why I haven't been able to update this for months on end. **

**You see, I have been deliberately attacked by this humongous of a writer's block and it hit me on the head, smashed my already poor pea brain which took more than a couple of months to heal, and then when it was finally healed, this little junior block had hit me again and made a concussion inside this puny little head of mine. It took a couple of weeks to heal and here I am now writing to you.**

**I do hope you will find it in your hearts to forgive me. orz|||**


	12. Chapter 12 OnO

"_He was damned and he knew it. He was supposed to die there and then, and yet somebody just had to save him. He didn't need it at all. Never. He just wanted to die. If he could, he would've done it himself. But no, she just had to give him hope. Hope he's never been given before. Hope that he wished didn't come at all. She just made it so hard to leave this place now._

_Somehow, he wanted to live."_

Natsume paced back and forth behind the double oak doors as he pondered for fairly a couple of minutes whether he should join his friends from his former school at his house's table or skip all the remaining meals until summer break—maybe _not_ skip meals, rather, eat them in the kitchen. So far, not eating the meals at the hall was winning until a certain brunette came gliding towards him, coming from the direction of the kitchen. She was beautiful. Not that he'd ever admit it.

"Oy, Polka." Due to tradition, maybe, that he still calls her by that stupid name. And perhaps, due to the fact that he was not supposed to be the kind of guy who expresses affections so easily. Not that there were any affections to express, of course.

"Mou, Natsume! At least call me by my name now! What do you want?" And there goes her infamous pout plus her semi puppy eyes. It just melts his frozen heart. Err.., he didn't just think that.

"Hnn," and he paused, contemplating further whether he should confide his problems at hand to this idiot, "are you meeting them?"

There was no need to ask who 'them' was.

"Duh!" She exclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course I am! How about you, Natsume? Ruka-pyon's in there. I'm sure you would want to meet him… And Hotaru's there too! And senpai, and everyone!"

Natsume's brows furrowed. He did want to meet everyone again, especially his best friend. But it had been them in the first place who told him to keep away. Of course he obeyed, if not a bit too grudgingly. He could meet them now, add the fact that he can't sense the dreaded principal.

He sighed as if a heavy weight was taken off from his shoulders. By the time he had made his decision, he heard the double doors creak as they were opened by the one and only girl in his li—Mikan.

"This is a mess."

"Natsume!" was the surprised cry of the aforementioned boy's blond best friend. "Where have you been all this time?"

Natsume's lips twitched a little bit upward from the unexpected reunion with his best friend. "Ruka."

Ruka was sorely tempted to face-palm. After all these months, that was all he would greet his best friend? Ruka restrained himself though, as he knew his best friend wasn't one who would let others see his emotions too easily (though he's been thinking if that included Mikan, who he had been assuming to be Natsume's girl). He responded with a smile, instead. "I see you haven't changed at all," then he'd laughed lightly.

Ruka stopped abruptly as he felt a hand on his shoulders. Looking past his shoulder, he saw Hotaru with what he'd call an irritated expression. It came as a shock to him as he'd been so used to her usual poker face. Hotaru's gaze met his then Hotaru moved a little bit closer to his ear to whisper her cause.

Whatever Hotaru had whispered to Ruka got everyone intrigued as they saw the bunny boy blush and look away, while Hotaru just removed her hand from his shoulder and went back to eating her twenty-sixth helping of crab fillet. Mikan grinned broadly as if she was a little child who had gotten away with a prank, and with it, knowing a secret nobody else was aware of.

All the Alices glared at Mikan with some kind of mild agitation, all thinking in chorus, "I'D BET IT WAS ALL YOUR FAULT WE COULDN'T HEAR A THING!" And then muttered under their breaths, "I'd bet every rabbit I have that it was something very controversial. Or else Mikan wouldn't have had to activate the silencing alice, or whatever it was called. Damn."

Natsume, on the other hand, smirked just as evilly as Mikan had grinned. He had learned how to read lips when he was nine or ten and that ability was kind of handy right now. There would be a lot of teasing in store for his—ahem—_formerly_ loveless best friend now.

Dumbledore then clapped his hands, for all the students and fellow headmasters to hear him. And at the same time the plates and goblets were all squeaked clean from the food formerly laid in them.

"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket -"

"Casket? Isn't that where people put in the corpses?"

The few people who heard laughed at Hayate's innocence.

"- just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation" - there was a smattering of polite applause - "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so much more likable. He acknowledged it with a jovial wave of his hand.

Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced. Remembering him in his neat suit at the Quidditch World Cup, Harry thought he looked strange in wizard's robes.

Harry heard Tsubasa whisper to someone, "Just look at his moustache! I'd bet a hundred rabbits he's related to Jin-Jin!" followed by a few chuckles from his schoolmates.

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, and the currently absent principal of the guard school on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen. Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."

Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students; Dennis Creevey actually stood on his chair to see it properly, but, being so tiny, his head hardly rose above anyone else's.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways… their magical prowess -their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing. The students from Japan just looked at Dumbledore with a look that reads they really don't mind the mentioned 'danger,' at least not anymore. He'd then made a mental note to ask someone about this apparent nonchalance of these Alices to danger.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.

Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the

entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," Dumbledore continued on, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line. Although with the request of Gakuen Alice's principal, there will be no age restrictions to be imposed to them as their group is consisting mainly of twelve to sixteen students. We've been told that the seniors of their school are under a rather strict separate principal and so were not allowed to participate.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

"What's this age line thing?" Misaki poked Hermione lightly on the shoulder. Somehow, the Alices found it easy to blend in with the Gryffindor students.

"Simply speaking, the age line is some kind of a line drawn, enchanted so as to not let anyone below the prescribed age pass through it." Hermione rambled, Misaki nodded absentmindedly. "But Dumbledore did say your school is exempted from the age restriction. Why's that?"

Misaki yawned behind her hand.

"He said it, didn't he?" She stroked her chin as though she had a beard. "You see, our school has three principals, the elementary, junior, and high school principals. Somehow, the elementary principal has control over the junior high too, which we older students are under. The high school principal's strong enough to withstand the ESP's power though, and has held on to his own jurisdiction."

The boys of the golden trio then joined into the conversation.

"You have three headmasters?" Ron gushed.

A little bit startled, Misaki answered him, "If what you'd call headmaster here is equivalent to our principal, then yes. Oh by the way, the high school principal is Mikan's uncle," she added, grinning, as she pointed her thumb to Mikan, who was talking animatedly to a typically monotone Hotaru nearby.

"And," Tsubasa inserted as he placed his hands on the boys' heads, "we'd all rather be under Mikan's uncle than that old geezer-kid."

"Tsubasa!" Misaki looked around furtively as though she was afraid something had overheard him.

"What? It's not like he's around here."

"But still! Who knows if he's controlling Persona again?"

"Worrywart you are Misaki. Nobara's making sure it won't happen again."

"I know that!"

"Then why're you fretting 'bout it?"

"But what if—"

"Wait a minute!" the trio almost yelled in chorus. "What's about this 'persona' getting controlled and whatsit?"

The pair looked at each other as though talking with telepathy at whether they should tell these kids, younger than them by two years, the secret. They both gulped and the trio knew they were somehow getting the answers.

"Ano..," Misaki started as she scratched the back of his head unsurely, "you see, we kind of hate the ESP."

Tsubasa rolled his eyes. "That's like the understatement of the century," he told Hermione, Ron, and Harry, all the while pulling Misaki closer to him by her arm. "It's more like we loathe and abhor and _despise_ him with all our skin and blood. Swear."

"And why would you 'loathe and abhor and despise him with all your skin and blood'? He can't be that bad, is he?" Ron inquired with the complete two fingers for quotations.

"He's worse, I tell you. Mind, he was the one who—"

Then in an instant, a 'BAKA' was heard and a bullet a size of a fist—practically because it _is_ a fist—hit Tsubasa square on the forehead.

"That's called classified information, baka-senpai."

Harry wasn't sure but he thought he saw two Misaki's at the same instant he heard the 'BAKA,' both of them in the act of putting their hands on Tsubasa's mouth.

"Back to the ship, then," the golden trio, along with the Alices, heard Karkaroff say. "Viktor, how are you feeling? Did you eat enough? Should I send for some mulled wine from the kitchens?"

Harry saw Krum shake his head as he pulled his furs back on. "Professor, I vood like some vine," said one of the other Durmstrang boys hopefully.

"I wasn't offering it to you, Poliakoff," snapped Karkaroff, his warmly paternal air vanishing in an instant. "I notice you have dribbled food all down the front of your robes again, disgusting boy -"

Karkaroff turned and led his students toward the doors, reaching them at exactly the same moment as Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Harry stopped to let him walk through first.

"Thank you," said Karkaroff carelessly, glancing at him. And then Karkaroff froze.

He turned his head back to Harry and stared at him as though he couldn't believe his eyes. Behind their headmaster, the students from Durmstrang came to a halt too.

Karkaroff's eyes moved slowly up Harry's face and fixed upon his scar. The Durmstrang students were staring curiously at Harry too. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw comprehension dawn on a few of their faces. The boy with food all down his front nudged the girl next to him and pointed openly at Harry's forehead.

"Yeah, that's Harry Potter," said a growling voice from behind them.

Professor Karkaroff spun around. Mad-Eye Moody was standing there, leaning heavily on his staff, his magical eye glaring unblinkingly at the Durmstrang headmaster. The color drained from Karkaroff's face as Harry watched. A terrible look of mingled fury and fear came over him.

"You!" he said, staring at Moody as though unsure he was really seeing him.

"Me," said Moody grimly. "And unless you've got anything to say to Potter, Karkaroff, you might want to move. You're blocking the doorway."

It was true; half the students in the Hall were now waiting behind them, looking over one another's shoulders to see what was causing the holdup.

Without another word, Professor Karkaroff swept his students away with him. Moody watched him until he was out of sight, his magical eye fixed upon his back, a look of intense dislike upon his mutilated face.

"Where are you going, Mikan?" Everyone almost froze at the sudden chillness Hotaru's voice took on. They glanced at the inventor and then only did realize that, indeed, Mikan looked like she was going to take a different route.

Mikan smiled sheepishly. She'd long noticed the rather disdainful glances some—if not most—of the Gryffindor students were giving her, taken the fact that she was a Slytherin. Of course, she knew that the relationship between the students of her house and Natsume's house was not of the best, and she knew she had somehow gotten on their nerves by getting too close to their fellow Gryffindors, or even to their table. Blame all this house discrimination.

"You see," she smiled with almost closed eyes. Her eyes were threatening to spill some long unshed tears only because she was going to be separated to her friends she'd always considered her second family. "I belong to another house and our dorms are on the opposite side. Where did Dumbledore-san tell you to lodge in?"

Nobara then looked around then waved her hand above her head to attract whoever's attention. This whoever turned out to be Persona.

"Umm… Persona-sensei, where did Dumbledore-san tell us to stay?"

To Mikan's surprise, Persona laid his hand on Nobara's blue head. "In a tower, he said. Somewhere beside the Gryffi—"

"W-WHAT IS THIS? N-Nobara-chan?" Having apparently forgotten the former issue, Mikan's jaw was dropped to the carpeted floor. What is this she is seeing? Persona and Nobara? She didn't hear anything about this!

Persona sighed inaudibly as he removed his hand from his belov—Nobara. He was about to open his mouth to somewhat explain their complicated situation to this known airhead when someone's laugh cut him off. Thank the heavens.

"Oh Mikan!" Tsubasa ruffled Mikan's brown hair, very merrily she noticed. "Of course! How could we have forgotten to tell you! When you got out of the school, a lot of things changed. Prime example would be Persona-sensei having a change of heart and then having a rather scandalous rela—" He promptly shut his mouth up as he saw a certain someone in the act of taking off his gloves, paired with the same someone's massacre death glare. Sniggers followed his silence.

"You should really learn to shut your mouth up," Misaki whispered to his ear, making him blush even more.

"I-I know!" he whispered back guiltily.

Persona cleared his throat, this gaining the attention of the rest of the population that decided to check the commotion the Alices brought out. The Hogwarts students, in general, were curious as to this certain school as they were the youngest of the lot, and must mean therefore that they were stronger, in one way or another.

"Sakura Mikan," he began as though he was going for a speech, "I was about to explain when this moron cut me off. I was almost thankful, but when he said certain things not deemed necessary, I felt the need to interrupt his outrageous outburst." A few mock _ahems_ were heard directed to a certain star-tattooed lad.

At the same time, Mikan was astonished to Persona's change of personality. She'd known him as a man of short words and certainly not one of those whose sense of humor was a mix of irony and sadism. Certainly, she'd known his past and his connection to her father and all the things he'd done in the past, but she undoubtedly thought he'd never be a man like this. It felt… nice to know someone so formerly corrupted can be changed to a better man.

"As the moron had stated," Persona continued on, despite the sarcastic sneers he heard from his students (he had to admit he was enjoying it himself), "a lot of things changed in our academy. The atmosphere was certainly less polluted, so to speak. And the students were given a bit more freedom. I do not know whether there are more important changes than I have asserted."

By the time Persona had finished his little speak, there were positively no students that shared the hall with them anymore and so explained their open talk.

"There is, sensei," Hotaru said, a small smirk gracing her small lips. All heads swerved in her direction as to listen more intently to what she was to say. "I think you have left out the fact that Shiki-san is standing as Junior High Principal. And also," she paused for effect (and also to see Mikan's reaction, which was for her eyes to bulge even more, if it was possible—maybe she used some elastic alice or something), "as the idiot-senpai had stated, Persona-sensei had a change of heart, as you might say. In our utmost gratitude, he is on our side now. That's what your uncle said anyway," she added facing her best friend.

Natsume then expertly positioned himself behind—ahem— _his _Polka, as he thought she might faint out of the shock.

He knew about it, Persona's changing of sides. And he was downright grateful Persona did, as it helped him from getting killed that certain night months ago.

As they all heard a shouting of "Oh shut up, Matsudaire," their heads veered generally to the direction of the voice, which turned out to be Nobara's.

Hayate just stuck out a tongue to the heavily blushing Nobara. "It's just so much fun teasing you, Nobara, especially when it's about sensei."

Nobara blushed even more, her formerly strawberry face now an overripe chili pepper. Hayate's ramblings of teases about the certain sensei weren't helping much in her mood, their schoolmates could tell.

Nobara then narrowed her eyes as she roughly glared at the wind alice. "So you really want a beating that badly, huh?" The bad thing was the to-be-victim didn't even notice the warning.

"Aren't we all gonna sleep?" said Ruka in time as he hid his yawn behind his palm, pausing in his act to scratch Usagi's ears. He didn't like it when his seniors fight, especially when it takes to a whole level up.

Following the law of Yawning Syndrome—in which one would most probably yawn when he or she sees another did—everyone yawned, some with mouth wide open, some meekly behind their hands or handkerchief.

"So, I guess see you tomorrow?" Mikan waved as she waited the group to climb up the stairs. She ignored the fact that Hotaru was still shooting daggers to her.

_Sorry, _she told Hotaru as she activated the telepathy alice, _I'll explain later_.

Somehow, the degree of the glare was tuned down as they disappeared to the upper levels.

The Great Hall that night was very busy. The Goblet of Fire had been moved from its place inside the age line and was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teacher's table.

"Hope it's Angelina," the Alices could summarize the murmurings of the students they shared the table with. They were looking at one another, as if they were planning something mischievous.

"So, do you think the plan will work?"

"Of course it will!"

"But what if—"

"We've talked about this a million times last night already."

"I do hope this will work."

"How many times do we have to tell you…"

"Do you really think this is perfectly safe for—?"

"Are you kidding me? There's no one else who would fit to be our champion than—"

"Zip your big mouths now, you idiots."

* * *

**Dadum.. yes, yes, I know. I know how very well this chapter is late... but it is long, right?**

**but i think that's only because of the copy pasted things.. but please read in between, I added my own touch, so to speak.**

**and since this is the 12th chapter, i would like to 'renew' my disclaimer.**

**I SINCERELY DON'T OWN BOTH GAKUEN ALICE AND HARRY POTTER. If I did then I have four noses.**

_if you don't like reading a note written by a currently frustrated author, and most probably one who likes to rant about nonsense when she's frustrated, then SKIP to the next italicized text. You've been warned._

**so yeah, I'm sorry. But I really do have my reasons. Most of which are school and school work. I'll have to admit the subjects aren't that dead hard and all but the way the teachers cram like three projects and assignments and quizzes due the very next day (the subjects vary but i hate chem the most. need to ask why? what would any student say if the teacher assigns a project today to be passed tomorrow along with an assignment and when this tomorrow we're talking about comes, we're doing a separate project IN the classroom again, and goodness knows how she squeezes a quiz in between those. bahh and then there's stat and phys...) okay, i really am such a rant. **

_Good day to you all and have a pleasant day._

_and before i forget, i'll let you guys have a little contest. whoever can guess the exact (or something VERY close to the) thing that Hotaru whispered to Ruka will have all my virtual cookies. and besides, i think it's fun to guess. :)_


	13. Chapter 13 OvO

The Halloween feast was extravagant as always. The usual pumpkins and live bats were hanging magically from the ceiling, the bats occasionally sweeping down upon unlucky passersby. But most people did not feel like enjoying the event as they would have normally as they were all fidgeting for the selecting of the champions. Much of it was obvious from the protruding heads turned towards Dumbledore every now and then, and the impatient looks on every face. They all seemed to want the food on their plate vanish into thin air and start the much awaited announcing of the champions.

After what seemed like hours for the edgy students, the golden plates were finally all wiped clean from the smudges their half-eaten food may have left. The students' excitement level went up the climax, as did the level of the noise in the hall. They all stopped talking abruptly when Dumbledore got up his feet. His fellow headmasters, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, looked just as tense and expectant as anyone. Persona who was acting as headmaster of the Alice Academy, however, looked like he'd like to kill a hundred people to ease his irritancy of boisterous students. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite the opposite: uninterested, almost bored.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

Dumbledore took out his wand from his pocket and gave a great sweeping wave with it, blowing all the candles off, save for the ones inside the carved pumpkins. Now with partial darkness surrounding the hall, the Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched with bated breaths, some holding them. They were getting restless as some people kept checking their watches.

"Must be almost time," Tsubasa whispered, three seats away from Harry. It was just whispered but it was as though it was heard in the entire hall. A proof of just how thick the silence was.

The next moment, the flames inside the goblet turned red, reminding all the alices of Natsume's fire. Then the goblet sputtered sparks and without a moment wasted, a tongue of flame shot into the air, within it a charred piece of parchment. Dumbledore stretched out his arm and caught it, everyone's eyes following his every move. He held it close to the goblet so that he could read it with its flames, which had turned back to blue-white.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."

"No surprises there!" yelled Ron as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Harry saw Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.

"That headmaster of theirs expected that much, ne," Ruka idly told Hotaru who was on his left. She just nodded in response. Ron, who was two seats from Hotaru, heard them and turned his head.

"You bet. Krum's probably their bet from the beginning anyway; with his being a known seeker and all."

The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

"Ah," Tsubasa exclaimed, making Misaki who was beside him twirl to look at him. "That girl's pretty."

Misaki looked a bit taken aback by his comment but laughed afterwards. She could care less about his fetish for _blonde_ girls. **(*)**

"But look at all her schoolmates," Misaki told him as she pointed her thumb at the Ravenclaw table where the Beauxbaton students where sitting. "They're disappointed."

It was Tsubasa's turn to laugh. "As if you could call crying as just disappointed. They're more like swimming in agony."

When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion next...

And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

"No! " said Ron loudly, but nobody heard him except Harry; the uproar from the next table was too great. Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.

"Eh? That pretty boy?" Hayate, from the past night, somehow shared Ron's disapproval. "D'you think he can handle all those 'dangers'?" He said with complete air quotations.

"Shush, Matsudaira," Misaki told him with her finger on her lips. "Our champion's next."

After the look of surprise left Hayate's face, a naughty grin took its place. "Right." And then his gaze met with Tsubasa's and their evil grins grew even wider.

The Goblet of Fire's flames turned red once again, the noise of the hall subsided. It was time for the guardian school's champion. A burnt parchment once again shot up from the goblet and Dumbledore's eyes widened as he read it.

"The Alice champion," he announced with slightly uneven breaths, "is Sakura Mikan!"

And then time stopped.

"WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS?" Mikan practically screeched from the direction of the Slytherin table as she promptly jumped on her feet and slammed her hands on the table.

Her housemates didn't even budge from her earsplitting outburst, nor did the window glasses shatter. They were frozen with time, after all.

"Mikan, calm down, please," Tsubasa pleaded, Misaki along with him. "Let us explain."

"I'll listen," she said as she removed her hands from the table, "but that doesn't mean I'm happy with it."

"That is well with us," Persona stood up from his place beside Madame Maxime (much to his dismay as he looks not his height when he stands next to the gigantic woman). "We decided on this last night, and further finalized earlier this morning. We saw it best that you represent our school."

"B-But I'm not a bona fide student anymore! How could I possibly—?"

"You're the best candidate among us, Mikan," Hotaru spoke up, seemingly sipping a cup of tea she got out of nowhere. "Think about it, baka. We're supposed to be protecting all these people. We're alices, not wizards. We practically know next to nothing about _their_ magic. And when we're watching over them, we had to think about who can do it best. It's obvious even to an infant that—"

"But still! I am NOT a—ouch!" Mikan's hands quickly flew up her forehead after a _Baka_ sound rung.

"Don't you interrupt me," Hotaru poised with her infamous gun, with smoke still coming out of its barrel, as Mikan pouted. "Where was I? Ah, we all knew it was obvious, even to an _idiotic_ infant newly born. You're the best candidate to be able to protect all of them."

"But how? I'm still a second year student, too, you know! And my idiocy isn't helping either! Just what am I gonna do?"

"You're still an alice, whether you like it or not," Ruka told her, a little bit sad. Everyone knew how being an alice can ruin your life like hell. "And you have the best alices, too."

"Right he is!" Hayate pounded his fist on the table, nodding like nuts. "You have the nullification and SEC alices, for Alice's sake! You practically can do infinitely more protecting than us. Does your first alice affect their magic, or something?"

"I haven't tried it yet," Mikan admitted, her eyes finding the floor the greatest treasure on earth. "But I don't know. I don't want to waste anything my mom worked hard for. And besides—"

"Speaking of which," Natsume said nonchalantly, "where's your mom?"

Everyone else's eyes, even Persona's and Hotaru's, widened at the realization. Indeed, just where was Mikan's mom? They were supposed to have gotten out of the school together, right?

"T-That's… We got sep—"And then they heard a clock move its hands, and the former noise of the hall returning full force. The alices all gasped at the sudden change of time. It had moved once again.

"Sakura Mikan? That Slytherin?"

"Eww.., she's Slytherin! And she isn't a student of that Alice school anyway!"

"Is she fantasizing she's a student from that school filled with _hot_ guys?"

"Mikan?"

"_Why _her?"

"She isn't a student of that school!"

"Unfair!"

"She's _twelve_!"

"There's got to be some kind of mistake!"

"She can't compete for another school she's not part of!"

"That's impossible!"

Even the teachers on the head table were murmuring with themselves of how they were going to deal with this problem.

"Professor?" Professor Minerva McGonagall inquiringly looked at the Hogwarts headmaster who looked like he was in deep thinking.

"Ah, of course," he said at last, making all heads swerve towards him. "We have no choice but to let her participate."

"But Dumbledore-san!" Mikan cried out from her place, her hands once again crashing against the poor Slytherin table.

"There are certain rules to be followed, Sakura."

"I also oppose of this," an unfamiliar voice echoed from the double oak doors of the hall. All heads by and large veered over to the direction of the doors where stood a young man, most certainly on his teenage years, with black slicked hair and dark emerald eyes. Beside him were two teenagers, one visibly a little older than the former, one ashen-haired and blue-eyed, the other with slightly spiky blonde hair and chestnut brown eyes.

The students from Gakuen Alice all stiffened as though they were soldiers ordered to be in attention, their gaze steel cold at the air in front of them. This did not go unnoticed by the occupants of the hall.

"As principal of the Elementary Division of Gakuen Alice, I oppose of the Goblet's choosing of this traitor."

Whisperings followed his statement.

"Traitor? Mikan? And _he's_ the so-called ESP of yours?" Harry weakly whispered to Nobara who was the nearest to him. A look from her grounded the doubt. This shorty surely was not a principal, at least that's what Harry first thought.

"Ah, Principal Kuonji," Dumbledore said good-naturedly, as though commenting on the weather, "it is nice to see you with us."

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore," Mikan almost choked on air from his too plastic pretense of a fine principal. It did not suit him in the slightest. "But going back to our little discussion, I do not allow Sakura Mikan to participate in this tournament as our school's champion. Moreover, she had forcibly broken out of the school without us teachers' permission." He glared at his nemesis. "That girl deserves no such title."

Tsubasa clenched his fist and glared at the floor instead. _He_ was the one who deserves _nothing_.

Principal Kuonji, sided by his presumably bodyguards, turned his gaze down the aisle, planning to shake hands with Dumbledore and the other principals as a late greeting. Formerly stone-faced, the ashen haired teen's eyes widened as his gaze fell into a certain someone. Someone he had so long missed and loved as a brother. Then _pop! _A 5-year-old child stood where a 15-year-old hot guy once stood.

"Natsume-nii!" And a resounding echo of jaw dropping to the ground sounded throughout the hall as they tried to register what just happened, excluding, of course, those who are used to such things.

The little boy ran towards his _brother_ and hugged him as though he thought he was dead, which was true.

The other bodyguard gulped, his gaze on the old geezer-child. There was going to be bloodshed.

"Hijiri," geezer said, menacingly, "just who did you say this young man was?"

Youichi's back facing the ESP, he couldn't let see the principal see his terrorized face. He knew it. He was going to be punished.

"Don't you dare talk to Youichi like he's some rat," Natsume spat out, almost gritting his teeth. He was sure the others were feeling the same, hatred for that bastard. But he couldn't hold his anger to him, not anymore.

"Hyuuga," Kuonji retorted back just as venomously, "the dead man come alive. How, Hyuuga, did you escape my wrath? I had made sure so much," he raised his hand which was poised in an attacking manner, "that you were as good as dead. There was barely even a breath in you…"

Persona, who was still in his place beside the ridiculously gigantic woman, made a move towards the principal to stop what he thinks the ESP may be planning to do, but Mikan beat him to the punch.

"Please don't misunderstand, Kuonji-san," Mikan said through gritted teeth, her bangs hiding her eyes. "I'll let you do all the rubbish to me, but never to my friends… I," she looked at her archenemy's face with much solemnity that her peers could not believe she was the same person, "would never, ever allow that to happen."

The elementary school principal clenched his jaw as he glared at the much younger girl (in reality, not in appearance—he's like over fifty already). He scanned the hall with his narrowed eyes and realized he was gaining unwanted attention. Well, considering he had just entered the hall then making this scene, it was no surprise.

"I'll let you off this time, trash," he whispered harshly as he passed her by.

"Well," Dumbledore said almost like he was speaking after an all-out war, a scratch at the back of his wizened head the only thing missing, "we have decided to let her in this tournament." He held up his hand to silence the protests. "Let us explain. It is to our knowing that Miss Sakura had been a student of Alice Academy, and one of the best, we had heard." A scoff was undeniably heard from a violet-eyed lass. "And so, considering the fact that the guardian academy were not, in the first place, included in the age restriction, we allow Miss Sakura's entering of the tournament. Please proceed to the room, Mikan."

Although there were still objections from the student body, there were generally no more violent uproars and so Dumbledore continued on happily.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real -"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.

The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out –

"Harry Potter."

Harry sat there, aware that every head in the Great Hall had turned to look at him. He was stunned. He felt numb. He was surely dreaming. He had not heard correctly.

There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall; some students were standing up to get a better look at Harry as he sat, frozen, in his seat.

Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly.

Harry turned to Ron and Hermione; beyond them, he saw the long Gryffindor table all watching him, openmouthed.

"I didn't put my name in," Harry said blankly. "You know I didn't."

"Of course we do," came the muffled reply from Tsubasa behind Misaki's hand.

Harry's best friends didn't seem to hear him.

At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall.

"Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

"Go on," Hermione whispered, giving Harry a slight push.

"Good luck, Harry," he heard Ruka whisper as he got up to his feet and stumbled slightly on his way to the top table.

It felt like an immensely long walk; the top table didn't seem to be getting any nearer at all, and he could feel hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon him, as though each were a searchlight. The buzzing grew louder and louder. After what seemed like an hour, he was right in front of Dumbledore, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon him.

"Well.. . through the door, Harry," said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling.

Harry moved off along the teachers' table. Hagrid was seated right at the end. He did not wink at Harry, or wave, or give any of his usual signs of greeting. He looked completely astonished and stared at Harry as he passed like everyone else.

Harry noticed the half-masked teacher from the Alice Academy was frowning slightly, from disdain or from worry, he couldn't tell.

Harry went through the door out of the Great Hall and found himself in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite him, the other champions gathered around it.

"Harry, why are you here..?" Mikan muttered as she looked around the sober faces the teachers wore. "Oh no. Surely not…"

"We assure you it is, Miss Sakura," came the uncharacteristically cold reply of Dumbledore.

*** - Misaki can be called blonde, too, right? strawberry blonde, if i'm not mistaken.. haha :P Tsubasa LOVES a certain blonde, ne? ;)**

**(edit/: oopsies! misaki's got pink hair... i forgot... haha.. sorry m(_ _)m and thanks to the one who told me. you know yourself ;) )**

**Yay! Kind of quick, huh? Let's just say I'd learned how to manage my time more efficiently now. But don't get your hopes too high on faster updates from me. I think I'll be gone for some time after, I **_**think**_**. Of course, nothing's too sure around me.**

**So I hope you guys liked this. I had fun making the chapter.**

**Have a good day, my dear readers.. (:**

_/warning: ramble ahead/_

**p.s. **_**Is confessing to the one you've been liking for like 6 years a good or a bad thing? **_

_**You're probably asking why I'm asking this kind of question.. haha, I'm just curious of your opinions, guys… But it isn't that much of an issue. Y'see, my dear real-life friend (mind, I consider ALL of you my friends :P) is asking if she should confess… yeah, she has that kind of courage and she's asking me that same question. I admit I'm in a hard time answering her so I'm turning to you guys…. hope I'm not much of a nuisance. xD**_

_By the way, people, is this chapter ok? I'll admit it's kind of rushed since I'm feeling I'll be buried beneath school work a little bit later if I don't do this now. But as I've said, nothing's too sure. Who knows? I might be able to update again after a week or so… :D_


	14. Chapter 14 ＃

That night, echoes of murmurs and shouts ringed in the halls of the great castle. No one could forget about the single fourth year student who managed to be a champion. Of course, most of them were against it, if not all.

In the corridor where lie the doors to the two towers of Gryffindor and the 'guest tower,' a rather rowdy group were arguing not so discretely.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" a crimson-eyed lad glared at the shadow freak slowly backing away from him. An ominous aura was creeping off the said lad.

"C-Come on, Natsume. Who knows if _he's_ watching—"

"The HELL I care!" Natsume glaringly rolled his eyes. No one knew a human could do both at the same time. But the situation was far too serious for anyone to notice.

"Natsume," the blonde best friend said as he put a shoulder on his best friend's shoulder, "please calm down. We didn't even know he would be coming this soon. He was so ill just the day before. Something must have happened between our departure and tonight…" He trailed off, lost in his own thoughts. It made his comrades think about the condition also. It was quite quiet for a moment.

"I'm off." And with that, Natsume murmured the password to the portrait and climbed in after it swung forward.

Everyone looked at his back, still thinking. Just then, they heard the familiar clicks of Persona's shoes. They all turned toward the direction of the staircase. Persona was there, his face rigid with displeasure. No one needed to ask if something had happened.

Then Persona spoke, "we'll meet in the dungeons below. There are orders from the principal to immediately start patrolling the corridors after curfew hours but he wants to speak with all of you first." He paused as he looked at the frown forming in Nobara's lips. He sighed. "As much as I don't like how the events are turning, we have hardly any choice. You can go and change to your uniforms first. Be there in ten minutes sharp. That's all."

They watched him disappear down the dark staircase. A heavy silence washed over them again.

"This sucks."

Everyone can't help but agree with Matsudaira.

The old coots had gone back to their quarters after the small meeting with the champions. Mikan and Harry went together down the hall as all other people were quite vocally unbelieving the latter's denial of entering the tournament.

"I did not put in my name, I swear," Mikan heard Harry say for the umpteenth time that night. It was certainly getting old.

"I _know_, Harry." Mikan sighed as she faced the senior with an exasperated look. "And I believe you. So please, spare my ears from the old recorder."

Harry smiled sheepishly as he blushed. "Sorry. It's just that—"

"Nobody really believes me and yada yada. I _know_. Let's just busy ourselves in going back to our dorms, shouldn't we?" Mikan was about to say goodbye when she heard a lot of footsteps coming from the direction of the staircase. She motioned for Harry to shut up as she led him behind a huge statue of some random guy. They heard a lot of muffled voices afterwards.

"—I'm betting my rabbits nothing good'll ever come out of this."

"Nobody said there will be. I mean, it's that basta—"

"Watch your mouths, you idiots."

"Walls have ears."

"And the floor eyes."

"Oh yeah? And what? Ceiling's got a nose?"

"Haha," somebody laughed dryly, "That's real _funny_, Hayate."

"Nobody asked, strawberry-head."

"You—"

"Would you shut up, Matsudaire-senpai?"

"HAI~ If Cool Blue Sky asks!"

"Gee, she's got you right in her pinky."

"Yeah, right in 'Cool Blue Sky's' rainbow pinky."

"Hey! Are you insulting my hero?"

"No, I'm _not_ insulting anyone here. Or am I?"

"Take this then—!"

There was a clutter of fallen metal armors as the voices subsided for a moment. Harry couldn't see well from the darkness of the surroundings. He glanced at Mikan who still watched them with a rather pained look. He looked again at the swirling darkness he presumed the others were in.

"_Can't see a damn thing."_

Then suddenly a light appeared from a floating unidentified object. It took Harry some seconds to realize that wasn't a UFO from some random movie he saw his cousin watch. The light widened its range as it flew higher until it almost touched the stone ceilings. Harry saw a wall of ice separating Matsudaira and the pink-haired girl he recognized as Misaki. Beside the ice wall stood Nobara with a hand laid on it. Her brows furrowed in distress.

"You should know we shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves, Matudaira."

"And you shouldn't be using your alice either!"

"You want to wake the whole castle up then?"

"No… But she was badmouthing Cool Blue—"

"Now, could we all shut up already?" Every head turned to look at the speaker who was Persona. He had one of his gloved hands over his white mask. Harry stood on his toes in anticipation, thinking that Persona would at last remove that mask. That he did and Harry could now clearly see the bloody red eyes beneath. It reminded him of that peculiar first year.

"Yes…"

"That's good. The principal is waiting behind the doors of that room to the left with his escorts. Don't forget to knock."

The students nodded once as they turned around the corner and left Persona there. Nobara stayed back a little.

"Sensei—"

"We'll talk later, Nobara. The principal will take any excuse to take out his anger on someone tonight. Go on and don't be late."

Nobara nodded once and ran to the room. Persona continued to stand still as he sighed again.

"I know you're there, Mikan… and whoever that is with you."

Mikan chuckled beside Harry before she pulled them both from the statue. Harry was trembling a little. This man had the appearance to make dogs run away with their tails between their legs. He was terrifying.

"Well," Mikan said as she smiled, "I wanted to talk to you."

Harry looked like he was lost.

"I guess I'm taking my leave…"

"No. Stay right there. This is about you."

Persona looked at his mentor's daughter with widened eyes. She was like his father this way: always brings surprises. No one could tell what they would be thinking before they say it (though people say it's only because no one knows how idiots think) and you'll end up surprised anyway.

"What is it?"

"I… I have a favor to ask."

**p.s. okayyy… I know this is really late (this line's getting old orz) and pretty short but I think I may be able to update a bit these coming weeks since it's the much-awaited school break! Hurrah! **

**p.p.s. No copy and paste things here, but I still don't own Harry Potter nor Gakuen Alice.**

**p.p.p.s. Thanks for the advices from the last chapter. It helped me. haha.. **

**p.p.p.p.s. So, thanks for reading! And if you may, please do leave a review. It makes me want to update earlier. (is this the infamous blackmail method? no, I really don't think so. :D) but it still would be nice to read some thoughts from you. **

**good day to everyone (it's getting stormy over here) and yeah, good dayyy!**


	15. author's friend's note

Good day to anyone who might be reading this. For once, this is not missyJuliette writing to you write now. I'm just a friend of hers. She asked me to write this note and publish it, just so you know that she's not dead yet.

But let me get to the point. As much as she wants to continue this story, due to certain circumstances, she cannot. She's very sorry to all of you who've supported her through the crappy (according to her) chapters of AAIHL. Sad to say, she cannot continue this anymore. The reasons will be kept secret for some purposes.

But looking on the better side of things, she _**might**_ be able to continue this, but not right now. There are just a lot of things going on with her life now. If I was in her place, I would've gone nuts. But that is beside the point.

Anyway, she's really, very, tearfully sorry that she's broken a lot of promises. She's sorry for not being able to complete this in a desirable time. And that she's let down a lot of you. (Mind, I peeped at the list of alerts, reviews, hits and stuffs for this story and now I understand why she was terribly hesitant on making this hiatus official.)

She is very thankful of you all. And I want to thank you for her as well.

We hope you understand and have a good day,

from mJ and D-i

:)


End file.
